Lights out: Tana starring in Willeton return

• Tana Kopa has shot the lights out since returning from college, shooting the three at 46.3% in 11 appearances for Willeton
• He is hoping to help lead the Tigers to the first state title since 2010
• Kopa is a Wellington Tigers junior product

Tana Kopa might be the most exciting natural shooter in the country and is banging down the door for a first NBL opportunity with brilliant NBL1 West form fresh out of college with Willetton Tigers.

The recently turned 23-year-old has returned home to Perth the last few months after graduating from Canisius University and shot himself to the spotlight with what he's doing in the NBL1 West.

Not only has Kopa being given opportunities on a team that made last year's grand final, but he might very well be Willetton's most important player in 2025 and his shooting exploits have been remarkable.

It happened immediately when he knocked down seven triples on his first weekend with the Tigers in a win against the powerful Geraldton Buccaneers, and it's only continued since.

Just last Friday night and he made 8-from-12 from beyond the arc for 30 points, including hitting a stunning buzzer-beater to send Willetton to overtime against Isaac White and the league-leading Rockingham Flames.

Standing at 6'6" and shooting from the outside at 46.3% in 11 appearances this season, there's no question he has an NBL future.

It's just a matter of where and while he's already training with his hometown Perth Wildcats at present, he's happy to go anywhere to chase his dream especially if he gets to cut out the work he's currently doing at a dental surgery.

"It's pretty full on every day at the moment but hopefully I can cut out the work part during the day and trade that just for basketball sometime soon, but you've gotta pay the bills somehow right now," Kopa told basketball.com.au.

"My goal is definitely to play basketball at the highest level I can and ever since I was little that's all I've wanted to do.

"It's pretty exciting thinking it might be getting closer to happening, but it's also nerve-racking. I don't know what's going to happen next, but it's exciting to be so close if you listen to some things people are saying."

Embracing NBL playing time

Kopa had no expectations when he returned from college about what opportunities might present with Willetton considering it's a team sitting in the top four of the NBL1 West with plenty of veterans and a couple of imports.

He would have even been happy to just ride the bench if that's what coach Adam Nener decided but he's not complaining about the fact he's getting to average more than 20 minutes a game and is being put in such a crucial role.

"I didn’t really expect this much playing time just because I came in halfway through the season, but I guess I have just tried to earn the trust of my coaches and teammates with what I'm doing at training and in games," Kopa said.

"Even that first weekend, they drew up the game tying play for me to send us to overtime for me and that was only my second game so that was a pretty good feeling that they had that much faith in me."

Having the mindset of a shooter

Kopa has received plenty of advice from all sorts of people throughout his basketball journey already, but what sticks out above all else is that to always have the mentality as a shooter.

He certainly plays with that no fear approach where every time he catches the ball he's looking to get a shot up. He has already proven he can knock them down in bunches and in clutch situations.

"I've always been a pretty good shooter but I have kept on getting better with it over the years," Kopa said.

"I've just had a bunch of different advice from all these coaches, but the biggest one is to never worry about your last shot and just believe the next shot is going in.

"So I try to always have the mindset that I'm going to make one eventually so I always shoot with confidence and am never afraid to take a shot."

Returning home to Willetton

Given Kopa did all his junior development coming through the ranks at Willetton, when he came back from the US there was never anywhere else he'd play.

He's especially enjoying the opportunity to play alongside 300-plus games NBL1 West championship winning veterans like Kyle Armour and Damien Scott, who he grew up wanting to be like.

"It's just been so fun and some of my teammates are guys that I grew up watching since was about 10," he said.

"Now I'm learning from the years of their playing and experience, and it's also been fun playing with some of my best friends and guys that I grew up idolising.

"It's pretty unreal playing with someone like Scotty who was always a fan favourite when I was younger, and I loved watching him.

"The same thing with Kyle Armour and I used to work out with him when I starting out as a 10-year-old. Now just picking his brains and trying to learn different aspects from him has been really good as I start my career."

Aiming for RAC Arena grand final

Kopa has joined a Willetton team in 2025 that made the grand final last year in the NBL1 West in what was the first ever decider played at RAC Arena, where an impressive crowd of more than 6500 turned out.

Now the 23-year-old would love to be part of another grand final this year on a floor he hopes to one day to play NBL games on. But more importantly he wants to help the Tigers breakthrough for that first championship since Daniel Johnson and Cam Tovey led them to one back in 2010.

"We're super keen to get ready for finals now and then hopefully we can lock in that game at RAC Arena," Kopa said.

"It's definitely exciting to think about that and just all the eyes there would be watching you in that game, it would be a pretty big deal.

"Especially the last couple of weeks, the guys who were there last year have been talking about wanting to get back there and having the chance to go one better so hopefully I can help them do that."

Growing with college experience

Kopa has no doubt that being in an almost full-time basketball environment like he experienced in college over the last four years has only expediated his development as an all-round basketball player too.

His shooting numbers continued improving too where he ended up going at 42 per cent in his senior season with Canisius College on the back of going 97/231 across his 31 appearances.

Everything about the college experience is something Kopa feels has him ready now to move into a professional environment immediately.

"It was such a good experience. Basically you are living and breathing basketball over there," Kopa said.

"You wake up and go straight to a work out, then go to class and then you have practice during the day before going back to class.

"Then you have work outs later on and shootaround with your teammates, and then you factor in travelling for games and stuff.

"It really is like a professional lifestyle that gets you ready, and it was such a good experience that I had over there."

Enjoying being back home

Given Kopa has now spent so much time away from home starting off going to Grace Baptist Academy in Mississippi before even starting at college, he has enjoyed these past few months back in Perth.

He ended up attending Spring Hill College before moving to LIU Brooklyn and then Canisius College where he ended up graduating from earlier this year with a business diploma having majored in sports management.

But coming back home to reconnect with his mum Stacey and the rest of his family is something he has been making the most of.

"It has been good being back home especially spending time with the family and even with our dogs that I missed so much," Kopa said.

"We've also had some family come over from New Zealand that I hadn’t seen in years so it's been good hanging out with them all.

"My pop still lives over there and I hadn’t seen him in a long time, but he was here for the first month I was back and he got to watch me play a few games before he went back too."