MELBOURNE has officially signed talented basketballer Corey Maynard to a one year contract as a Category B rookie.



The 24-year-old has been recruited via the three-year-non-registered rule which allows a player straight onto a list if he has not been registered in an Australian Football competition for three years.



Maynard, who is 191cm, played four years of College basketball in the United States at the division 1 level with Bryant University in Rhode Island.





Corey Maynard puts pen to paper, signing the contract on Wednesday at AAMI Park with Todd Viney and Jason Taylor (Photo: Matthew Goodrope)

He most recently played two years in the NBL, with both the Cairns Taipans and the Townsville Crocs.



Maynard also represented Australia as part of the emerging Boomers squad.



Prior to his basketball career, Maynard played football until U 16’s at both local and international level.



Described as a highly competitive and physical type of player, Maynard has a strong family connection to the AFL/VFL.



He is the brother of Brayden Maynard, who currently plays for the Collingwood Football Club. Their father, Peter played eight games for Melbourne between 1978 and 1981 and 216 games for Glenelg and Woodville/West Torrens between 1982 and 1991.

Maynard is also the grandson of Graham Campbell who played 151 games for Fitzroy, and won a Best and Fairest in 1957 before going on to become a member of the Fitzroy Hall of Fame.

After a number of years playing basketball, Maynard said he is looking forward to making the switch back to AFL.



“I played footy while I was growing up and it was my number one sport for a long time so I’m really excited to get stuck into it.



“It was a really positive journey that I had in basketball but it was getting to the point where I was getting to the age that if I really wanted to give footy a crack, I had to think about making the switch and I’m really happy with the decision.

“It will take a lot of time and I’m realistic about that but I’m [also] really excited about the opportunity.”





Corey Maynard poses for the photo after signing his contract on Wednesday (Photo: Matthew Goodrope)



Maynard is Melbourne’s second Category B rookie signing after Joel Smith joined the club at the end of 2015.



National recruiting manager Jason Taylor said he is excited at the prospect of having Maynard on the list after tracking his progress over the past three years.



“Part of [my] role is to be looking outside of the square and the Category B gives us that opportunity.



“In Corey’s case, it’s not unlike Joel Smith in that he played football as a junior but was a highly talented basketballer.



“He went to Bryant University in the States where he ended up being the captain [of his basketball team] in his second year so it was that competitive nature he had [that stood out to us] and he had shown some good qualities as a footballer in his student days in Adelaide."





































































Brayden Maynard (left), Peter Maynard, Corey Maynard (right) and Corey and Brayden's Grandfather Graham Campbell get their photo taken