Warrnambool Seahawks recruit Jordan Lingard returns to Australia after American college stint

The 204-centimetre centre is proving a handy mid-season addition to a Warrnambool Seahawks roster jostling for a Big V finals berth.

Colac-raised Lingard, 22, returned to the south-west a month ago and linked up with the Seahawks through links with former Geelong Supercat-turned-Warrnambool captain Alex Gynes.

He’s played five matches and will suit up against Keysborough and Chelsea on the road this weekend.

Lingard said he had learned lessons during his time in the United States where he attended the San Francisco-based Menlo College and Los Angeles-based Whittier College.

Menlo played in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and Whittier is a National Collegiate Athletic Association.

“The first one was part of the NAIA, which is kind of a step down, but we are still kind of the same competition,” Lingard said.

“We played (NCAA) division one schools and division two schools and the other school was an NCAA division three school and we played the likes of UC Irvine and CSU Bakersfield so we played a lot of good teams.”

Lingard battled injury during his college career but enjoyed a strong run during his final season.

“The first two years I was kind of inhibited by injury. I had a broken thumb and then I had jumper’s knee in my left knee,” he said.

Lingard is living in Colac as he “figures out what I am going to do with my lift outside of basketball”.

The Seahawks’ schedule is keeping his busy.

“I am bonding well with the guys, figuring out how everyone is playing,” he said.

“We have guys like Simon (O’Keefe) and James (Mitchell) around my size so it’s good to be not the only big man.

“I was surprised the first time I saw them because I was thinking Big V would be a lot more guard-orientated.”

Third-ranked Warrnambool Mermaids play top-placed Mildura on the road on Saturday night.