Australian big-man Sam Froling has agreed to a new three-year NBL deal to return to the Illawarra Hawks, sources told ESPN.
Froling, widely regarded as one of the NBL's best centres, will remain with the Hawks team he's been with since 2019, with this new contract keeping him through to what would be his ninth season with the franchise.
The 25-year-old is coming off one of the best campaigns of his career, averaging 13.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game over the course of the regular season and playoffs, helping lead the Hawks to the 2025 NBL Championship.
He was named to the 2025 All-NBL Second Team. Froling suffered a partial tear of his Achilles in Game 4 of the Championship Series against Melbourne United, which will likely have him sidelined through to the midway point of the 2025-26 NBL season. He underwent successful surgery on the injury in Sydney at the end of March.
The Townsville native first joined the Hawks in 2019, and has been a primary piece of the organisation's core ever since. He was named the NBL's Most Improved Player in 2021, and won the league's Next Generation award in 2024.
Froling has represented the Australian Boomers on multiple occasions, including in several FIBA World Cup qualifiers, as well as the program's gold medal-winning 2022 FIBA Asia Cup campaign.
The signing marks an efficient offseason for the Hawks, who've been intent on bringing back core pieces of their title-winning team.Froling joins Mason Peatling, Daniel Grida, and Todd Blanchfield as players who've re-signed with Justin Tatum's team early in this free agency. They join Tyler Harvey, Lachlan Olbrich, Will Hickey, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, and Hyunjung Lee as contracted players on the Hawks' roster.