Local Hero: Harvey sworn in as an Australian citizen

• Harvey took citizenship in Wollongong on Saturday, August 29
• He now plays NBL27 as a local, freeing an import place
• The Hawks used it within two days, signing Kelan Martin

‍Illawarra Hawks guard Tyler Harvey became an Australian citizen in Wollongong on Saturday, August 29, 2026, turning the club's longest-serving import into a local for NBL27.

Harvey, 33, took the citizenship pledge alongside his family, Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown, Hawks general manager of basketball operations Mat Campbell and high performance manager Alex Moore.

The change is worth more to Illawarra than a single roster place, although it is worth that too. Harvey had been one of the club's three imports alongside Milton Doyle and Darius Days. He now counts as a local, his contract becomes marqueeable, and the money he is paid sits differently against the cap. Within two days the Hawks had used the freed place, signing American forward Kelan Martin.

He arrived for the 2020-21 season out of a productive stint in Germany, recruited by then Hawks coach Brian Goorjian off an Eastern Washington career that made him the 51st pick of the 2015 NBA draft. He averaged 20.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in that first year, made the All-NBL First Team and dragged Illawarra back into the playoffs.

Defences adjusted the season after and his scoring dipped to 16.1. The year after that ended in a wooden spoon, and the club handed him the co-captaincy.

He is the longest-serving import in Hawks history and is contracted until the end of 2027-28. Last season he averaged 16.9 points and 3.6 assists as Illawarra missed the playoffs and the chance to defend the title he had won them.

With seconds left in Game 2 of the NBL25 Grand Final Series at John Cain Arena on March 12, 2025, Harvey let go a three that put the Hawks up 102-100 and tied the series at one apiece. Slow-motion replays had Melbourne arguing about his pivot foot for a week. Illawarra closed it out in five at WIN Entertainment Centre on March 23 to break the club's championship drought, and Harvey took a second All-NBL First Team selection in the same season.

Citizenship also makes him eligible for the Australian Boomers, alongside Matisse Thybulle and Bryce Cotton, though FIBA allows only one naturalised player on the floor for a national team at a time. Cotton was granted citizenship in September 2025 and has already debuted.

Imports wanting to stay is becoming a pattern in this league, and Harvey has followed Cotton through the door.

Illawarra face Adelaide at the CODE Sports NBL Blitz in Bendigo on Thursday, September 3, then Melbourne United on Sunday, September 6, before opening NBL27 against New Zealand at Spark Arena on Sunday, September 20.