McCarron rediscovers basketball love at Eltham

Featured image: @In2Action Photography-Jodie Rawiri

Mitch McCarron feels the time was right to end his NBL career when he did and couldn’t be happier with the life he's building with his family back in Melbourne and hopes that is capped off with an NBL1 South championship with the Eltham Wildcats.

McCarron could have looked to continue his professional career had he desired by the end of NBL25 at the New Zealand Breakers, but he just felt the time was right with how he was feeling physically and mentally to move on to the next stage.

He had already achieved an enormous amount having attended Denver's Metro State University and then starting his professional journey in Spain before then starting what would become a 270-game NBL career.

That began as an undersized, high-rebounding forward at the Cairns Taipans before he settled into a role as the starting point guard at Melbourne United including the team that won the NBL21 championship.

He would then join the Adelaide 36ers and become captain before then ending his NBL journey at the Breakers in NBL25, but his body was crying out for a break and he decided it was time to end that professional journey.

McCarron has since settled back in Melbourne with wife Abby and their two young children while he is enjoying juggling his work as the GM of player relations and engagement with the Australian Basketball Players' Association along with being director of coaching and pathways with Eltham.

That goes hand in hand with having now played the past two seasons in the NBL1 South with the Wildcats and he has been a key reason why they are about to play in Saturday night's Grand Final against the Frankston Blues at the State Basketball Centre.

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As the 34-year-old takes a moment to reflect now, he's happy he decided to end his professional career when he did and couldn’t be happier to be continuing to play now with Eltham and building a new life with his family in Melbourne.

"I'm absolutely comfortable that it was the right decision and I think it was a difficult time for me with the back to back to back niggling injuries," McCarron said.

"I always had said that when I couldn’t move the way I wanted to that I would retire because I would just end up too frustrated.

"I never wanted to be in a place where I hated playing basketball and I think it was getting to a point where even though I still loved playing, training and getting through a week was taking a considerable mental effort to push through the warm ups every day and do all the recovery and rehab.

"I just got to a point where I thought I could be better served taking a step back and moving on, and transitioning into other things in life.

"It absolutely turned out to be the right decision and now I've found my love again for playing every day because it's not hurting, and I'm enjoying my time with the Wildcats."

Found a perfect home with Eltham

McCarron joined Eltham with them fresh off winning the 2024 NBL1 South championship and while Angus Glover and Owen Foxwell had been key to that title, a lot of the rest of the core remained together.

They lost in the semi finals last year to the Sandringham Sabres after a top four finish before going through 2026 with a 17-5 record and then beating the Dandenong Rangers and Nunawading Spectres in the finals to reach the Grand Final.

McCarron couldn’t be happier with the new home he's found with Eltham the past two years and how welcome he's been made feel by all his teammates and coach Craig Stratford.

"It has been a ton of fun and it's a great group of guys who did have an existing core at Eltham of guys who just really want to win," McCarron said.

"I've been fortunate that I can join that group now and I'm hoping to hang around for a couple of more years yet if the body can hold up. It's been really fun and you just kinda get that enjoyment back for the game with being part of a team like this."

Sharing back court with Sam Short

The back court pairing that McCarron is sharing at Eltham with Sam Short has been a key reason for their success too with the duo having spent time together previously in the NBL at Melbourne United.

McCarron is producing 12.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.4 steals a game this season while shooting 45 per cent from the outside, and Short delivering 8.5 points, 5.6 assists, 5.2 rebound and 1.5 steals while also going at 37 per cent from three-point range.

There's plenty of others who have helped them to a Grand Final including Zak Cunningham, Harrison Hornery, TJ Weeks, Ovie Magbegor, Sam Whelan, and prior to his injury, Leonardo Colimerio, but McCarron is loving sharing a back court with Short.

"It's nice to see him playing well and obviously I built a relationship with him during our time at United together," McCarron said.

"Then I kinda kept track of how he was going when he joined the Wildcats and was fortunate enough to follow along when they won their NBL1 South championship a couple of years ago.

"Just seeing him enjoy basketball has been really great and that's kinda like the ethos of the team. We've got a bunch of guys who are just in that place to want the team and program to do well, and be competitive every single year.

"Seeing people like Zak Cunningham come through the program and some of our juniors have success has been awesome too."

Looking back on prelim win

After finishing the regular season in second place and earning the week off to start the finals, Eltham had a hard earned qualifying final win over Harry Froling and the Dandenong Rangers setting up a tantalising preliminary final at home to the Nunawading Spectres.

That was a game that went to overtime and ultimately Eltham prevailed 91-89 to now reach a second Grand Final in the past three NBL1 South seasons, and McCarron's first since winning an NBL1 Central title back in 2023 at the West Adelaide Bearcats.

"We always knew it was going to be a hard game, and a really competitive and physical one, and the teams that are still alive at this point of the year you can tell how well they play together and they really know what they're trying to achieve, and have got guys who sacrifice a little what they can do individually for the team's sake," McCarron said.

"I really respected that about Nunawading watching them play and they looked like they really played hard for each other and bought in as a program, and that's why it turned out to be that kind of fun, competitive game all the way through.

"I wasn’t expecting any different and I'm glad we got the win, but they're a great team."

Grateful for Grand Final opportunity

McCarron is no stranger to playing on the big stage having won championships in the NBL, NBL1 Central and Slovenia, but he doesn’t take any Grand Final opportunities lightly especially when he knows how much it means to be there for so many people at Eltham this year.

"I'm definitely excited and at the start of the year we talk about what we want to achieve and I know a lot of the guys were involved with the championship run two years ago were desperate to get back to that," McCarron said.

"They want to feel that again and we've got some new guys in the group who want the same thing and are really competitive, but we also want to see each other succeed.

"Naturally whenever you get into this position you just wanna keep the thing rolling, and you want to play one more game and don't want the season to end. We've been persistent about trying to get better and find a way to win each week. We're grateful to be in this position."

Eltham culture is a special one

For McCarron and what he is enjoying being part of at Eltham, it's about much more than just the winning or losing on NBL1 game nights.

It's about creating an entire club environment where all the juniors coming through with the Wildcats can be part of the culture and then see a real pathway to them one day playing for the club at an NBL1 level should they choose to pursue that.

"I think there's a lot of people that put in their time and effort and energy into the club and not only within the NBL1 program, but outside of that too and they identify with the club in numerous spaces," McCarron said.

"They grew up playing juniors here and their parents and siblings did, and we've been trying to embrace that and guys that were here from the get go under Craig Stratford like Sam Whelan, Ovie Magbegor and Sam Short have been leading that.

"These guys have put in significant time into trying to build a culture that people felt they could contribute to, and feel like they could be competitive every year.

"We are carrying the badge of the Wildcats and we're trying to play a certain way and build a certain brad for our juniors who can look up and see that they want to be part of that at NBL1 level one day."

Enjoying building a new life

While McCarron could have continued trying to play professionally following the NBL25 season at the Breakers, he just felt the longer he tried to keep playing at that level the less he would enjoy it particularly with the noises he was body making that it was enough.

He still had that competitive drive to keep playing where joining the Wildcats in the NBL1 South was perfect while he, his wife and their two children set up their new life back in Melbourne.

He's juggling his jobs during the week with Eltham and the ABPA as well, and has never been happier.

"We've got two little ones now and obviously it's a transition for all of us going out of professional athlete life and making that adjustment, but it's been a fun one moving back to Melbourne and being around some people that we knew," McCarron said.

"We've then built new connections at Eltham and I'm also working with the Australian Basketball Players' Association which has been a fun role for me to still stay connected with NBL and WNBL players as well.

"I'm really loving my life at the moment, it's been great, and it is a bit weird not being on a contract per se where you know how many years you'll be somewhere and then see what happens next.

"So it's a bit weird being able to make decisions that are a bit more permanent but we're just enjoying life for what it is now."