It was perhaps an unheralded coup that the Perth Wildcats made on 19 April 2024. The signing of Elijah Pepper after he had graduated from a five-year collegiate career at UC Davis was not particularly spectacular when it occurred. I did notice and soon many more will notice; that is if they are not noticing right now.

Take Pepper’s three first performances in the NBL1 West for the Warwick Senators over the last two weeks:

• 50 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists against the Lakeside Lightning on 5 April
• 51 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists against the Rockingham Flames on 12 April
• 48 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists against the Joondalup Wolves on 17 April

Pepper is averaging an insane 49.67 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Those scoring numbers are additionally composed of a minimum of nine three-pointers. The NBL1 system is the second-tier league of Australia but it enables for such showcases. What Pepper is doing is an incredible display of ability.

This could seem unexpected. Pepper in his debut professional season with the Wildcats averaged 7.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game where he was the seventh player in the rotation. His season-high was 17 points against the South East Melbourne Phoenix in November.

Do not take Pepper’s recent outbursts as any isolated occurrence though. He was in the starting line-up for UC Davis from 2019 to 2024 and saw the team increasingly rely on him for scoring during that period. It peaked with an average of 22.5 points per game during the 2022–23 season and closed with 20.7 points during the 2023–24 season.

Pepper was raised, attended high school and played college basketball all in the United States. His father – an American – also played college basketball and professionally overseas. Pepper – as true an American as any American can come – happened to be born in Australia when his dad was playing basketball there. Pepper holds dual citizenship as a result and plays as a local.

Pepper is cut in the mould of Chris Goulding and Dejan Vasiljevic with the potential to be Australia’s next great shooter. If the departure of Bryce Cotton results in anything, I hope it will be an increase in the offensive reliance on Pepper. Watch him keep posting those 49+ pieces until then.