History-making Wagstaff Remarkably Unaffected by Incredible Career

Written for nbl.com.au by Chris Pike

He is about to accomplish something his old teammates Shawn Redhage, Damian Martin, Greg Hire, Matty Knight and a host of others couldn’t getting to 400 NBL games, but Perth Wildcats captain Jesse Wagstaff is still very much the same humble man who arrived in Perth 13 years ago.

Sure, he now has a wife and three young children, he has six NBL championship rings and even more degrees that he's earned during that time. He's ruffled his fair share of feathers on the court too, but to sit down and talk with Wagstaff now is still remarkably similar to what it was in 2009.

Wagstaff is now in his second year captaining the 'Cats, he is attempting to make history by winning a seventh NBL championship this season and on Saturday night in Melbourne, he becomes the second Wildcat to ever reach 400 games.

He now sits second on the club's all-time games played list only behind the 482 played by the legendary Ricky Grace. Despite it all, he is playing it down although he does admit to be being proud of the milestone.

"I haven’t really thought about it a whole lot until this week when everyone wants to talk about it, to be honest. It's not something you focus on yourself but it does mean a lot don't get me wrong," Wagstaff said.

"I'm very proud of it and I'm proud that it's happened at one club as well so it's not just 400 in the NBL, it's 400 at one club. I'm proud but it's not exactly something I'm going to go out there and shout about too much myself."

As for if he expects anything different about Saturday night's game with Melbourne United at John Cain Arena when he reaches the milestone, Wagstaff sure hopes not.

"I hope it's not any different to a normal game. I don’t expect it to be different anyway and nor should it be I don’t think," he said. 

"I don’t want to downplay it and I am proud of the milestone, and I think it's special, but at the same time the old cliches have an element of truth to them and it is just another game. 

"It's an important game for us and I don’t want that to fall by the wayside. It's a huge game for both Melbourne and us and I'm sure they'll be going out there doing their best to win, and so will we. It should be a cracker."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">?????<br><br>Damian Martin and Jesse Wagstaff claimed championship number 5? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLFinals</a>? <a href="https://t.co/hdRt30AaiA">pic.twitter.com/hdRt30AaiA</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1107236150446440449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What makes everything Wagstaff has accomplished in his career all the more remarkable is that it easily could have never happened at all on a number of fronts.

Growing up in Canberra, he didn’t mind basketball and watched the odd Cannons game, but was never really that into the sport until his teenage years.

That led to him attending Metro State University and playing basketball there, but really going there was just as much as about furthering his education as it was about playing ball.

His life changed on a number of fronts in Denver, though, both because of how his basketball developed to make it a realistic career path. He also met the love of his life, his future wife and mother of their three children, Stephanie.

However, coming out of college he wasn’t sure what the future held. He didn’t know if he should pursue playing basketball professionally, but that soon became an easy decision when Rob Beveridge came calling.

Beveridge had just taken over as Wildcats coach and was building a new-look team, only retaining Shawn Redhage, Brad Robbins, Stephen Weigh and Paul Rogers from the previous season under Conner Henry.

The arrivals of Damian Martin and Kevin Lisch became masterstrokes, but so did the signing of Wagstaff. It only made sense given Beveridge knew him his whole life with his mother and father old teachers of his in the nation's capital.

The rest is history. Wagstaff was NBL Rookie of the Year in that 2009/10 season, helped Perth to a championship and he's now won five more rings and racked up 399 games along the way leading into Saturday night.

If you told him all that would have happened 13 years ago with the Wildcats still based out of the old Perry Lakes Stadium grandstand that no longer exists, no way would he have believed you.

"I would have been surprised if you told me that way back then. It's not as if I was that kid who was five years old with a basketball in my hands wanting to be a basketballer when I grew up," Wagstaff said. 

"I was quite late to it and even coming out of college I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. But I guess playing basketball for a living I thought sounded all right if someone was willing to pay me to do it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. 

"Now here we are 13 years later. I'll take it and it's been a really enjoyable ride and it's the people you meet and the stories you share and experiences you have that have been phenomenal. Hopefully that continues for a little bit longer but it's been a great ride so far."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jesse Wagstaff clocks 300 games tonight, which is almost as many hairstyles we’ve seen from him over the years... <br><br>Which is your fave? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL19?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL19</a> <a href="https://t.co/bWhzaGIh4i">pic.twitter.com/bWhzaGIh4i</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1085731435607089152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While Wagstaff has been sought after property on NBL free agency a few times throughout his career, the pull to ever play anywhere else or live away from Perth with his family has never been stronger than the reasons to stay.

Now he is tremendously proud to be able to call himself a one club 400-game player.

"Thinking about it and in the past it's interesting because life is bigger than basketball. I think some people forget that and obviously it is a big part of our lives including Steph and our kids, but at the end of the day it is just a job," he said.

"When it comes to contract negotiation times basketball is one side of it but you have to think outside of that as well. Is your family happy, do you like the city, do you like the people and is it the right fit. 

"There were times in each contract negotiation where some teams come knocking, but I was happy in Perth and have been. It was a conscious and quite happy choice to stay because I was happy, and you can't be happier than happy. 

"I'm not saying it's always been a simple choice and the temptation is always to go somewhere else and experience something else especially with the family. It could have been a good adventure but at the end of the day history speaks for itself and I have stuck around and am happy I did."

One other bonus of Wagstaff playing professional basketball for 13 years is that it's allowed him to continue to study, and rack up the degrees and diplomas along the journey.

Had he been forced to get a 'real' job, that study might have fallen by the wayside. But combined with the bonuses of the basketball lifestyle that allows him to spend plenty of time with his three kids, when he's at home of course, there are bonuses of playing ball for a living.

As for which of his qualifications he uses post his NBL career, he's not quite sure of though. In fact it might be none of them, after all his short-lived IKEA assembling business never took off.

"I've got a civil engineering undergrad with a minor in maths, I've got an MBA from Curtin, I've got a master of traffic engineering from Monash and I actually haven’t finished my Master of Financial Planning," Wagstaff said.

"My interest is waning considering and that's probably highly correlated to the number of kids I have. I doubt I'll finish that and exit with a masters, but I might sneak out with a grad dip. I think I've got one year to go to get that. 

"Out of all those, which one will I use, probably none to be honest. But it has been enjoyable studying and it has been a good experience. I don’t mind it and it fills the time with something."

Away from basketball, the Wagstaff family has built lifelong friendship through people they have met through the Wildcats. He will be forever grateful to have become a father and husband at around the same time that Damian Martin, Greg Hire and even Matty Knight did.

Now with Martin and Hire retired, and Wagstaff still making the history, they all live in a 1km radius of one another in the northern suburbs of Perth. Their of-age children go to school together and Wagstaff will forever be grateful.

"That's another fortunate thing about playing for the same team or when other guys play for the same team to get that continuity. It's crazy to think about it and we all kind of grew up together," he said. 

"I got to Perth about a day after Damo, he stole the king bed and I never let him forget it, but we got married around the same time, we had kids around the same time. Greg's oldest son and Damo's oldest daughter are literally in the same class at school so that's pretty rare and I feel pretty fortunate to be able to share that."

And with Wagstaff with his Wildcats teammates based out of Hobart for now awaiting being able to come home, 'Cats road games have regularly seen Steph Wagstaff joined by Martin and Hire to watch from the couch together.

Wagstaff isn’t quite sure what to make of that though.

"When you say it like that, it's a nightmare isn’t it. An absolutely nightmare and I couldn’t think of anything worse," he said.

"Seriously, we are pretty fortunate to have people like that around and to be honest, I don’t know how much of the games Steph gets to see because she's too busy chasing little rascals around. You just kind of grow up together and experience similar things at similar times of life so it's pretty cool."

On a more serious note, being away from your wife and three children isn’t easy. Obviously Wagstaff misses them but he's taking a realistic approach knowing he'll be home soon, and likely home for good.

"It's not easy, but I don’t want to make this a sob story. I think we're pretty fortunate to be in the position we are. I've got a stable job and Steph is stable at home, and the club has been fantastic with helping out anyway they can," Wagstaff said. 

"She's got a good support network with friends who have been doing a phenomenal job. I'm not sitting here saying it's the best situation, but at the end of the day there's food on the table and I will be home eventually. 

"It's not as if I'm stuck over here for good. We had to play away games at some stage, we've just kind of strung them all together and hopefully we'll be back soon. It's not ideal but it is what it is and I don’t want to turn it into a sob story or woe is us or anything. It is what it is I guess."

Going back 13 years again and Wagstaff made a promise to his future wife and mother-in-law that after he stopped playing in the NBL, however big the family had become that they would be moving back to Denver.

None of them expected by 2022 he would be captaining the Wildcats, trying to win a seventh championship and playing some of the best basketball of his career aged 35.

So there's not quite an end in sight to his career yet but when it is over, that promise isn't quite locked in as firm stone as it was in 2009.

"I'm not sure, we both love it in Perth and I made that deal with Steph when we first came here and her mother. I'm more than happy to move back there if that's what she wants and to be honest, I'm still happy to do that," Wagstaff said.

"That's all part of the deal. But in saying that, we are fairly settled in Perth and we do try and get back to Denver as much as possible, or we did before COVID. It's obviously a special place for Steph but it is for me as well with her family there and the time I spent there. 

"COVID has thrown a spanner in the works in terms of getting back as does having three kids, but hopefully her parents can come out or we'll get back soon enough to visit. The option to move back is still open but right now Perth is where we call home."