From schoolboy star to star Breaker and Tall Black below is a condensed look at the achievements of one of New Zealand’s finest basketball players. Diving into his formative years it’s easy to forget how much Abercrombie has achieved and how good a junior athlete he was.
7 major Australasian championships, numerous Breakers all-time records, 100+ Tall Blacks appearances including 3 World Cup trips plus many other accolades and records broken in the past 20 years.
2002 (Year 10) Westlake Boys Runners-up at Secondary Schools Nationals. North Harbour Runners-up at U18 Nationals – named to Tournament team.
2003 (Year 11) Played for New Zealand Secondary Schools Team v Australia. North Harbour Runners-up at U18 Nationals.
Member of Westlake Boys National Championship winning volleyball team.
2004 (Year 12) Played for New Zealand Secondary Schools Team v Australia and NZ U18 team. North Harbour Runners-up at U18 Nationals – named to Tournament team.
2005 (Year 13) Captained Westlake to Secondary Schools National title. Played for Junior Tall Blacks at the Youth Olympics in Sydney.
2006/7 Redshirt Freshman at Washington State University – NCAA Tournament 2nd Round
2007/8 Sophomore at Washington State University – NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
2008/9 Breakers debut.
2009 Waikato Pistons NBL Champions – Named to All Star 5 and Most Outstanding Forward.Debuted for the Tall Blacks v Estonia.
2010 Waikato Pistons NBL Runners-up – Named to All Star 5 and Most Outstanding Forward. Played for Tall Blacks at FIBA World Cup in Turkey.
2010-11 Breakers ANBL Champions – Grand Final MVP..
2011-12 Breakers ANBL Champions – scored a career high 33 points v Melbourne Tigers. Named to All-NBL First Team.
2012-13 Breakers ANBL Champions.
2014 Played for Tall Blacks at FIBA World Cup in Spain.
2014-15 Breakers ANBL Champions – pulled down a career high 15 rebounds v Sydney Kings.
2015-16 Breakers ANBL Runners-up.
2017-18 Breakers ANBL semi-finalists. Had a career high 7 blocks v Brisbane Bullets.
2018 A member of the Tall Blacks bronze medal winning team at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
2018-19 Moved past Kirk Penney (3,226pts) as Breakers all-time leading scorer.
2019 Wellington Saints NBL Champions – Grand Final MVP. Played his 100th game for the Tall Blacks ahead of the FIBA World Cup in China.
2020-21 Most games played for the Breakers passing Mika Vukona (354 games).
2022-23 Breakers ANBL Runners-up.
2023-24 Played 400th game for the Breakers in the opening game of his final season.
- In his senior year at Westlake Boys High School (2005) he captained Westlake (35-0) to the NZ Secondary Schools National title. Played for the Junior Tall Blacks at the Youth Olympics in Sydney and at an Invitational Tournament in San Diego. He was also selected for the NZ Volleyball team at the Youth Olympics but had to withdraw due to the clash with basketball. He was a member of Westlake’s Swimming team and was the school’s High Jump, Long Jump and Triple Jump champion.
LACEY LOWDOWN 