The State Basketball Centre is at 291 George Street, Wantirna South, inside Knox Regional Sports Park. It has twelve community basketball courts plus a show court, and Knox Basketball runs its junior domestic competition there. Under 8 to Under 16 games are played on Saturdays. Parking is free, with 800 spaces and an overflow area next to the main car park.
Written by Cameron James, founder and head coach at Liddicoat Basketball. Over a decade coaching junior basketball in Melbourne, including at Big V level, and rep teams from Under 12s through to Under 18s.
Last updated September 2026.
The address is 291 George Street, Wantirna South 3152. Put that in, not the name, because the centre sits inside Knox Regional Sports Park, a 27 hectare site that also holds a gymnastics hall and football pitches, and a few mapping apps will happily drop you at the wrong entrance of it.
Knox City Council's own access guide for the centre notes that the nearest bus stop is roughly 550 metres away on High Street Road, so if you're coming by public transport, budget a walk at the end with a child carrying a bag. Drivers should navigate to the George Street address and follow the signage on site to the basketball entrance rather than the first car park they see.
The site is shared. On a busy weekend there can be gymnastics and soccer running at the same time as basketball, which is worth knowing before you arrive and assume every car in the car park belongs to a basketball family.
State Sport Centres lists 800 car parks at the centre plus an extensive overflow area next to the main car park, and says parking is currently free of charge. For a Melbourne stadium that's a genuinely good set of numbers, and it's the reason this venue doesn't produce the kerb crawling you get at older suburban stadiums.
That said, 800 spaces and twelve courts running back to back means the main car park still fills in the middle of a Saturday morning block. If you arrive in the changeover window, take the overflow straight away rather than circling. It costs you ninety seconds of walking and saves you ten minutes of hunting.
If someone in your car has limited mobility, aim to arrive at the start of a game slot rather than the middle of one, when the closest bays turn over fastest.
There are twelve community basketball courts plus one full sized show court with retractable spectator seating. The centre is run by State Sport Centres, with Knox Basketball as its main junior tenant, and the community courts are the newer part of the building.
Twelve courts in one room is a lot of noise. If you've a younger child who finds crowded, echoing spaces hard, this is a venue worth walking into once on a quiet weekday before their first game, so the sound isn't a surprise on the morning that matters.
Casual shooting is available at the centre for five dollars per person, which is a cheap way to let a nervous kid stand on a real court and get a feel for the place before the season starts.
This is Knox Basketball's home. Knox runs roughly 1,200 teams a week across junior and senior domestic competition, which makes it one of the larger associations in the state, and the centre also houses the Knox Raiders representative program.
For juniors, Knox lists Under 8 through Under 16 teams playing on Saturdays and Under 19 to Under 23 teams on Sunday late afternoons. Most games are played at the State Basketball Centre, with the rest spread around venues in the Knox community, so always check the fixture rather than assuming.
Knox runs two seasons a year, a summer season starting in November and a winter season starting in May. Teams typically train once a week at a venue organised by their own club, not necessarily here.
Give yourself twenty minutes more than you think you need on the first morning. Not for traffic, but for finding your court number, finding your coach, and working out where your team sits. Court numbering in a twelve court room isn't obvious from the door.
Games run to a tight clock. If your child is on the first game of the day, be there well before tip off, because in a venue this size the game before yours finishing is the only warning you get.
Knox City Council's access guide for the centre tells visitors to bring a water bottle, runners, comfortable clothes or their uniform, and a towel, and notes that one basketball is supplied to each team during Knox domestic competition. That's a fair packing list for any stadium in Melbourne.
Venue open and close times vary through the week depending on what's booked, so the centre's published weekday office hours aren't the same as the hours the courts are running. Go by your fixture.
If you're choosing between associations rather than just turning up to a game, the size of Knox cuts both ways. A big association means more teams, more grades and a better chance of your child landing in a group at their level. It also means a bigger building and less of the small club feeling some families are after.
Court hire at the centre is listed at 65 dollars plus GST per court per hour if you ever need to book one for a birthday or an extra training session.
291 George Street, Wantirna South 3152, inside Knox Regional Sports Park.
No. State Sport Centres lists 800 car parks plus an overflow area, and says parking is currently free of charge.
Knox Basketball lists Under 8 to Under 16 junior domestic games on Saturdays, and Under 19 to Under 23 on Sunday late afternoons. Most games are here, but check your fixture.
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Facts on this page were compiled from the official sources below and written up in our own words. Dates, fees and venues change every season, so confirm anything you are relying on with the association directly.
This page was last updated September 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Tryout windows, grading, key dates and what each level actually costs. Written for Victorian basketball parents, sent when something matters, not every week.