Harry Froling is ready to move on from the darkest chapter of his life.
It was just past 2:30am on Sunday morning in January of 2023 when Froling was the victim of a king hit outside a nightclub in Wollongong. The then Brisbane Bullets big-man fell back and hit his head on the pavement, suffering multiple injuries -- including a skull fracture -- that would require emergency surgery to evacuate bleeding in his brain.
More than 19 months later, Froling still has headaches, and difficulty with his memory. The 26-year-old's professional basketball career has been on an indefinite hiatus as he recovers, with the only solace coming on Friday afternoon when the perpetrator of the king hit -- Nathan Mesinez -- was sentenced in the Wollongong District Court to two years and seven months in jail. Mesinez is eligible to apply for parole after serving one year and four months of his sentence.
"I'm happy it's finally over," Froling told ESPN.
"It's been a long and out-stretched process, not knowing anything because I don't have memory of the night of the incident. I'd been hearing from third parties, accusations, and different things that happened throughout the night, and then now seeing the true facts of what happened, it's definitely a relief, and knowing I didn't do anything that warrants getting king hit."
Those agreed-upon facts indicated Froling, then 24, visited the Heyday nightclub in Wollongong after playing in a Saturday evening game between the Bullets and Illawarra Hawks. The violent incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, as Froling left the club. He walked down Crown Street, and stopped near a group of women he had encountered in the club early that evening. One of the women was Mesinez's partner. Mesinez was sitting on the footpath near Froling and the group of women.
As Froling stood close to the group of women, Mesinez stood up and told him to "f--- off and go away". One of the women pushed Froling in the chest, with Mesinez then stepping in between the two. Froling said to Mesinez: "what are you going to do about it? Hit me?"
Mesinez punched Froling, who fell backwards onto the footpath and hit his head.
A separate group of women who walked by -- who were nurses -- stopped to help Froling. Police arrived at 2:45am.
The punch changed the entire trajectory of Froling's life. After brain surgery, he spent 10 days in hospital, and has since experienced a plethora of symptoms.
"It's headaches, weight gain from going from being a full-time athlete to sitting on my ass for well over 12 months and not being able to do much," Froling said.
"There's a lack of sleep; a bit of insomnia. Memory has been a big one. I forget things. [My friend] Emmett [Naar] was telling me about how me and [Daniel] Grida had a photo in Oodies walking through the tunnel when we played for Wollongong, and I didn't even remember that. I saw the photo of it and I couldn't even remember that. That was only a year ago. I was in denial about [the memory loss]. I still have PTSD about the night, and the financial side has hurt; not having an income and being on the disability pension."
Froling says he still has some ongoing issues. His headaches "come and go", and he still has issues with his memory. The physical injuries he's experienced were compounded by the anxiety that came with not being able to tell his story, so not to risk jeopardising his case.
Once a Division I college athlete and five-year professional basketball player -- winning the 2019 NBL Rookie of the Year award -- Froling's career came to an unfortunate halt. He was averaging 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for the Bullets when the incident occurred, still in the early stages of what was projected to be a long NBL career.
"The hardest thing was losing my whole life, my whole career," Froling said.
"I've lost two years of wages, two years of super. I haven't been able to work. All I've ever known is basketball. I haven't been able to get on court and do all that sort of stuff for so long. When your whole identity is ripped from you in one night, it puts you in a pretty dark place. And then it was not knowing what he was going to say, and what they're going to say about me."
Froling has hope, though.
For the time being, he says slowly improving his general health has taken precedence over attempting to return to the sport.
There are still obstacles he needs to overcome before he embarks on a full-throated return to professional basketball, but those are steps he's beginning to take. The Townsville-native is continuing through his rehab process -- with the help of Mackay Basketball, of which he was a frequent supporter over their NBL1 season -- and is focusing on dropping the weight he gained over being inactive for such a significant period of time.
"I do dream of playing basketball again," Froling said.
"It's still a ways away, but I'm doing everything I can to get back on top of that. I'm doing what I can. It's my career. It's my first love. I want to be in that space in some way. It's been great being around Mackay Basketball, and those guys helping me out, and just rehab, being with the weights coach, all that sort of stuff; just trying to get healthy and get on top of my general health.
"If I could get back to it and play again, that is a dream of mine. It's all dependent on how I feel and how my body responds. I guess that's the difficult thing.
"I may never play again, and that's the reality of it, but I would love to and doing everything in my power to get as healthy as I can and come back from this."
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