ORIGINS: How Kyrin Galloway Went From North Queensland Kid to Taipans Starter

Kyrin Galloway marked his 150th NBL game on Saturday, fittingly against the club where his professional career began, the New Zealand Breakers.

The 26-year-old reached the milestone in magnificent form, coming off a standout Queensland derby against Brisbane.

Galloway set the tone early with sharp shooting and decisiveness, finishing with a season-high 19 points on 8-11 FG and five rebounds as Cairns powered past the Bullets.

Born in Hawaii, raised between North Queensland and Georgia and shaped by two basketball parents, Galloway’s path hasn’t followed the usual script.

He didn’t properly pick up a ball until he was 14, but once he committed, the climb was rapid.

Now in his second season in front of the Orange Army, the shot blocker has become a dependable starter for the Snakes in NBL26.

Honolulu, Georgia and Townsville
Galloway was born in Honolulu to an American father and an Australian mother, before moving to Townsville as a toddler. He lived in North Queensland until he was eight and even then, the sport felt like home.

“I remember growing up and being around my mum’s games and playing around the stadium and always being there in Townsville,” Galloway said.

His mum, Kylie Galloway, came through the Nunawading Spectres system in Victoria before playing college basketball in the United States with San Jose State and the University of Hawaii. She later returned to Australia to play in the WNBL with the Townsville Fire, earning club MVP honours in the Fire’s inaugural 2001-02 season.

His dad, Erin Galloway, also played professionally, including with the Harlem Globetrotters.

In other words, the game wasn’t just around Kyrin. It was stitched into the family fabric.

Tennis Prodigy
Despite that background, Galloway’s first serious sport was on a completely different court.
“I started playing tennis when I was around 10 years old,” he said.

A Roger Federer fan, he modelled his game around serve-and-volley instincts and fierce forehands.
Tennis quickly became all-consuming.
“During summer break I’d be at tennis all day. Drop me off in the morning and play till 5pm. All day, every day.”

Over time, the demand took its toll.
“I did really enjoy tennis, I just got burnt out. I don’t think I was quite ready at the time for the seriousness and job-level commitment.”

Basketball arrived as something new and exciting.
“Around 14-years-old when I started picking up a basketball properly for the first time.”

He still sees tennis in the way he plays now.
“The biggest thing that did translate for me was my touch, plus footwork.”

There’s also the timing element — the ability to judge distance, rhythm and contact — which matters when you’re trying to meet shots at the apex like Kyrin does.

Ball Bloodline
Once he committed to basketball, his parents’ influence became direct.

His mum taught him how to shoot and shaped how he understood technique. A skilled, physical forward in her playing days, she still prefers games that allow contact, even now that she’s a women’s collegiate official.

“To this day, she never calls charges,” Galloway said. “She prefers a more physical game.”

His dad’s advice was simpler.
“He’d always tell me as soon as you touch the paint, just jump up and dunk it,” Galloway said. “And I would just say, ‘I don’t know if I’m built like that.’”

The competition at home was real, too.
“Playing against him growing up was definitely a challenge,” he said. “He was always roughing my brother and I up on the court until we eventually aged him out.”

But the message that followed him into pro basketball was constant. Effort is non-negotiable.
“My parents just always wanted me to play hard,” he said. “As long as I played hard they’d be happy, it didn’t matter how many points.”

Galloway moved through the American system, attending Milton High School in Georgia before earning a college opportunity at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Early on, he was a traditional interior big, learning the game around the rim.

“In high school I played centre a lot. Short corner, dunk and get rebounds, shoot a little bit of the midrange.”

As the game evolved, so did he.

“Started off as a traditional centre, then my senior year I tried to play more on the perimeter,” he said. “You have to be more of a 6ft 10in guard if you want to make the NBA as a big man.”

By his sophomore year, the three-point shot became a bigger part of the package.

AD Influence
Ask Galloway about influences and a familiar NBA name comes up, Anthony Davis.

“One of my coaches early on said I had a similar type of build to Anthony Davis when he was in college,” he said. “The defensive skillset, the shotblocking and the length.”

Before becoming a full-time NBL pro, he also pulled on green and gold. Galloway was part of the Emerging Boomers group that won bronze at the 2019 World University Games in Italy.

Galloway’s NBL career began with the New Zealand Breakers. He later joined the Adelaide 36ers as his role continued to sharpen, before arriving in Cairns in 2024.

Even after years in the United States, Queensland has remained a constant thread. Galloway has played NBL1 North, including a stint with the Townsville Heat, each return has carried a sense of familiarity.

“Growing up in Townsville I still have family friends up there,” he said. “Queensland feels more homely to me than the rest of Australia.

“When my mum was playing in Townsville when I was young, there were people that looked after me and helped around the team. Those are like family to me.”

A Rare Chapter with Jaylin
Galloway’s younger brother, Jaylin, has carved his own path — including a career with the Sydney Kings and a brief stint with the Milwaukee Bucks — and their careers have overlapped in meaningful ways.

“Jaylin started playing basketball a lot younger than me,” Kyrin said. “He always had the time advantage. I was always bigger, he was more of a guard. He was always so fast. Super creative and a shooter.”

Because of the age gap, they didn’t play together competitively when they were kids. Recent off-seasons became the window to share the court.

“Mackay was the first time we got to play together on the same team,” he said. “That was the plan, to have that experience together. It was cool to see him as a professional and not just my little brother.”

Then came a title run. In the 2023 NBL1 North season, Kyrin and Jaylin helped the Ipswich Force win the championship.

“Playing together in Ipswich was more random, it wasn't planned but naturally happened,” Kyrin said. “We won a championship together, it was my first time winning as a professional.”

That shared success also sharpened something else, a sense of identity split between two places and a career that has been shaped by both.

“My parents still live back in Georgia — that’s still my home because that’s where I go in the off-season,” he said. “I am torn, because I feel Australian while I know I’m saying my home is back in the United States.”

“After five to six years here (in the NBL) I feel super comfortable in Australia, like it feels like home away from home. It feels like I’m in a different state more than being in a different country.”

Jetting to Japan
In the 2025 off-season, Galloway signed his first international contract, joining the Iwate Big Bulls in Japan. He spent three months there. Short, but perspective-shifting.

“Super cool experience going to Japan,” he said. “It was my first experience outside Australia as a professional. First time playing in a country where they don’t speak English as their first language.”

“It’s the same sport but almost feels like a completely different one with the differences in style and expectation.”

His pre-game routine is simple: a nap, then a Guzman y Gomez meal before tip-off. He’s marked his family story in ink with a Roman numerals tattoo of his parents’ birth years and off the court he completed a finance degree in the United States.
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Like most pros, the biggest growth has come in the mental space, how quickly you move on, how you respond to mistakes and how you control what you can.

“The biggest thing I’ve learnt is to let things go that you can’t control,” he said. “Every time I’d miss a shot I used to get so mad, but at some point you just got to let go and move on to the next play.”

And as he ran out for game 150 against the club that opened the NBL door, his trajectory suggests the best is yet to come.