Image credit: Deacon Matthews

Marshall Nelson has had a homecoming in 2025 NBL1 West season and would like to play out his career at the Eastern Suns with him fresh off a 50-point game as they add in former Goldfields Giants star Randy Bell.

Nelson is now in the NBL1 veteran category having played 178 games over the league including winning an SBL championship at the Perth Redbacks in 2017 and then an NBL1 West title at the Rockingham Flames in 2022 who also claimed the NBL1 National crown a week later.

He's also had stints in the NBL at the Illawarra Hawks and Cairns Taipans, had a stint in college at Wayland Baptist University, and has also played with the NBL1 East's Canberra Gunners, and had stints in Europe in Sweden, Israel and Italy.

However, his junior days had Nelson playing at the Eastern Suns and he always saw himself back playing up the hill one day. It all worked out for him to be on board in 2025 after leading the Willetton Tigers to last year's grand final at RAC Arena.

Nelson has had no trouble fitting back in at the Eastern Suns including putting up 50 points last Friday night against the Redbacks at Belmont Oasis with him now excited for the run Kalamunda can make for the rest of 2025.

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Adding Randy Bell to this Suns team

The Suns currently sit in eighth position in the NBL1 West by the end of Round 11 on the back of that win last Friday over the Redbacks thanks to Nelson's 50-point outburst.

They now prepare to face the second placed Warwick Senators this Friday night back at Ray Owen Sports Centre with the Eastern Suns having just announced the signing of import point guard Randy Bell.

Bell delivered 24.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists at the Giants last year to be key to their playoff push while ending up named to the All-Second Team.

He has since played in Argentina and Indonesia, but now will join the Eastern Suns for the rest of the season potentially starting this Friday against Elijah Pepper and the Senators.

"You always want to play well against other good players so I'm definitely going into this game trying to play well, and for us to bring Randy Bell in as well. With him, I don’t think there's a team in the league we can't beat," Nelson told The Hoop Hour on 91.3 SportFM.

"It's going to be really good for us bringing him in. I feel like one of our biggest problems has been scoring and there's been a bunch of games we didn’t crack over 80 points so I feel like he will solve a lot of those problems.

"We've been playing a bit higher tempo lately and have been scoring more but before then we were struggling to score. That's why we went and got him to help our scoring and creating on the team, and if he comes in and gels like I think he will, then we are going to be a problem if we make playoffs."

Putting up the 50-point game

Nelson is no stranger to spectacular performances throughout his career with him capable of lighting it up with his hot shooting and explosiveness off the dribble to make him a weapon like few others.

His 48-point performance in the finals last year for Willetton against Rockingham was one thing, but then last Friday night he was unstoppable in what turned out a crucial win that returned Kalamunda to the top eight.

That’s where his motivation came from on the way to finishing with 50 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals on shooting 16/21 from the floor, 8/10 from three-point territory and 10/11 at the foul line.

"The win was the most important thing because it was a big win for us. If we dropped a win like that it would make it super hard to make playoffs and we've been circling those must-win games," Nelson said.

"Everyone came out locked in but it was fun going against Joe (Cook-Green) as well. We know each other pretty well off the court and we have a lot of banter, and I feel every time I've versed him he gets the best of me. So it was good to get one back on him a little bit as well.

Getting in a zone like that

There are precious few players that know that feeling like Nelson felt last Friday night of being able to light it up in so many ways and put up 50 points in a match-winning performance.

But really for Nelson, once he feels in that zone in a game it just feels like he's working out on his own in the gym and is having a good shooting day.

"It's a good feeling and I feel like it's the same feeling that any basketball player would get when they are in the gym by themselves and your shots are falling," Nelson said.

"It's just you and your thoughts, and when you start making a few shots you feel comfortable and I feel like that when you're rolling like that, you feel like you are back in the gym by yourself.

"You're in your own mind and in the zone, and it was a good feeling once I saw a few shots go down. I loosened up a little bit and they just seemed to keep going in."

Torching former teams

Last Friday night was far from the first time that Nelson has put in a spectacular performance against one of his former teams.

And given he hasn’t played at the Redbacks since 2021, he didn’t have any added motivation to put them to the sword, but that Belmont Oasis floor is where he feels more comfortable than anywhere else across the league.

He also led the Flames to a spectacular comeback win over the Redbacks on that same floor in 2022, and nobody will forget his 48-point outburst in last year's semi finals to lead Willetton to the come from behind win over Rockingham.

"In this game I didn't really have that extra incentive but in some of those other games I have against my old teams," Nelson said.

"I was thinking about it all week in those other games and was mentally preparing myself, and was remembering that were said about me and wanted to prove them wrong.

"That's what was going through my mind and I feel like every time I am really locked in I know that I'll have a good game. It can take a few days to mentally prepare for those games and think about what I want to get out of it, and the ways I want to approach it.

"In those games it just takes a little bit longer to prepare yourself for, but it wasn’t really like that for this game. I even slept through my alarm so was rushing to get to the game and everything felt a bit chaotic, but I felt relaxed once I got out there."

Coming back to the Suns

While Nelson first started his SBL career with the Redbacks back in 2014, most of his junior days were spent playing at the Eastern Suns and he always had a desire to return one day.

It's turned out nicely that he was back in 2025 to play alongside fellow new signings Lewis Thomas, Joel Vaiangina, Willetton teammate Travis Fee, and then NBL grand final MVP Terrico White.

He sees himself settling back at the Suns now for the rest of his NBL1 West career.

"I've spoke to Suns a few times and contemplated going back, but it just never really was the right situation or the right fit at the time," Nelson said.

"But I'm trying to find somewhere to play out the rest of my years and I think Suns is a good place to go back to and it's a place that I still call home.

"I think there's a great community up there and I would like to try and build on that and help the community at Suns as much as I can while I'm there."

Run to the 2024 Grand Final

It turned out to be just a one-year run that Nelson had with Willetton in 2024 just given it was a late home for him to find after things capitulated with the Flames where he was expecting to remain playing.

However, it's a season he'll always cherish to play alongside the likes of Michael Vigor, Damien Scott and Andrew Black, and those two finals wins in the space of three days to beat Rockingham and Geraldton to reach the grand final will be tough to forget.

"It was a fun grand final to be part of and the game could have gone either way, and obviously it would have been nice to win but it was a good run we made to get there so it was still a successful season," Nelson said.

"That camaraderie we had around the team after we won that Rockingham game, I just knew that we weren’t going to go and lose the next game even in Gero. Then for us to get up by 30 points in the first half was unreal and I feel like we had such a tough team.

"We had 10, 11 guys who could all play their role so well and I feel like that we just hit our strides at the right time."

Chris Pike

50-piece Nelson excited to welcome Bell to Suns