 |
Adrian Hurley OAM (born 21 April 1944) is an Australian former basketball player and coach. His major achievements include establishing the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) basketball program and leading the Perth Wildcats to the NBL title in 1995. [1] He coached the Australian Boomers at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics and at the 1986 and 1990 FIBA world championships. [2]
Hurley began his basketball career in Wollongong in the early 1960s. He won a number of State junior titles and played on the NSW Open team that won the Australian Championships in 1967. He played for NSW for 5 years and captained the 1970 NSW team.
In the early 1970s he moved to the USA where he coached basketball in Eugene, Oregon. At this time he completed his PhD in Education.
On returning to Australia he lectured at Wollongong Institute of Education and commenced coaching the Illawarra Hawks in State and Australian Championships. He coached Illawarra to a number of State titles during this period.
Hurley began his National Basketball League coaching career with the Illawarra Hawks in 1980.
In 1981 he moved to Canberra as the foundation basketball coach of the Australian Institute of Sport. [3] He served as Head Coach at the AIS from 1981 to 1992. From 1983 to 1992 he was a Vice-President of the World Coaches Association and President of the Oceania Region Coaching.
During his time at the AIS he was assistant coach of the Australia national basketball team to Lindsay Gaze at the 1982 FIBA World Championships and the 1984 Olympic Games. [4]
He was appointed as the head coach of the Australian Men's team in 1985 and coached the Boomers at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1986 and 1990 FIBA World Championships. [4] [5]
In 1987 he coached the AIS women's team to the title at the Australian Women's Club Championships.
At the 1988 Olympics he was the first Australian Men's team coach to take Australia to the medal round where Australia finished in 4th place. In 1992 he coached the Boomers to 6th place at the Barcelona Olympics the second highest finish for the Boomers at that stage. Hurley was a national men's team (Boomers) selector from 1976 to 1992 and a member of the Australian Coaching Council 1985–90.
During this period he conducted and gave lectures at many basketball coaching clinics throughout Australia, the South Pacific and in Europe.
He left the AIS in 1993 and was appointed Perth Wildcats head coach where he coached from 1993 until 1997. As a result, he also gave up coaching the Boomers and was replaced by Barry Barnes. Hurley led the Wildcats to Grand Finals in 1993 and 1995, winning the latter. In 1995 his Perth Wildcats won the "triple crown" when they won the pre-season championship, the minor premiership and the title. This was the first time in NBL history that this feat had been achieved. In the same year he coached the Wildcats at the World Club Championship in London where the Wildcats played the NBA champions the Houston Rockets. The Wildcats finished third in the championship, the highest ever performance by an Australian team.
In 1997 he resigned from the Wildcats.
In March 2004, he was appointed the head coach of the Hunter Pirates. [6] In 2004–05 NBL season, he took the Pirates from last place the previous year (where they had 2 wins) to 15 wins and the playoffs. He was subsequently named the NBL Coach of the Year. [7] He coached the Pirates in 2005–06 and once again they made the playoffs. The Pirates were sold to Singapore for the next season and Hurley retired.
In 2007 he was elected President of Basketball NSW, a position he held until the end of 2010.
Hurley was named as the NSW Coach of the Year for basketball in 1975, NSW Waratah League Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003and was named the Newcastle and Hunter region Coach of the Year in 2003. In 1991 he was awarded an Award of Merit by Prime Minister Hawke for his contributions to the Australian Institute of Sport. He was awarded a Basketball Australia Merit Award. In 2000 he received the Australian Sports Medal. He was a Torch Bearer for the 2000 Olympics. In the 2004–05 NBL season he won the NBL Coach of the Year. Hurley is a Life Member of the Australian Basketball Coaches Association. He was awarded the Sports Australia Eunice Gill Sports Educator of the Year in 1990. He is a Life Member of the Illawarra Basketball Association and Basketball Australia. He was inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame as a coach in 2004. [8] In 1991 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal.
In 2022, Hurley was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. [9]
Lucien James Longley is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He was the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for four teams over 10 seasons. Longley most notably played for the Chicago Bulls, with whom he won three championships from 1996 to 1998. He represented Australia as a player at three Olympic Games in 1988, 1992 and 2000, and has worked as an assistant coach for the Australian national basketball team.
Andrew Barry Casson Gaze is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Melbourne Tigers from 1984 to 2005, winning the league's MVP award seven times and winning the scoring title 14 times. He also guided the Tigers to two NBL championships, in 1993 and 1997, and was named an All-NBL First Team member for a record 15 consecutive years. Gaze has been described as one of the greatest players Australia has ever produced.
The Hunter Pirates are a defunct Australian professional men's basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). It was based in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales.
Lindsay John Casson Gaze is an Australian former basketball player and coach.
Mark Robert Bradtke is an Australian retired professional basketball player who played mainly in Australia's National Basketball League, but also had a single stint in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996–97. As well as his outstanding play, Bradtke was known in the early part of his NBL career for his mullet haircut.
Brian Warwick Goorjian is an American-Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). He is also coach of the Australia men's national basketball team. He is the most successful coach in Australian basketball and his career has been called the most successful in NBL history by Basketball Australia. In an NBL coaching career spanning over 20 years, Goorjian has won six championships: two with the South East Melbourne Magic, three with the Sydney Kings and one with the South Dragons. He previously served as the head coach of the Australia men's team from 2001 to 2008 before returning as coach in 2020.
Andrew Mitchell Vlahov is an Australian retired professional basketball player. He played his entire eleven-year professional career for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL), with whom he won three championships in 1991, 1995 and 2000.
The Australia men's national basketball team, nicknamed the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition.
Anthony Dean Ronaldson is an Australian former professional basketball player who played the majority of his career in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). Known as "The Bear", Ronaldson played for the Eastside Spectres, South East Melbourne Magic, Victoria Titans, Perth Wildcats and New Zealand Breakers in the NBL. He played in seven NBL Grand Final series and won two championships, both with the Magic in 1992 and 1996. He also represented Australia at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and again in 2004 in Athens
Scott Fisher is an American-Australian former professional basketball player and coach, most known for his time spent with the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL) in both roles. As a player, he won the NBL MVP in 1989 and 1992 while playing for the North Melbourne Giants. He won a championship with the Giants in 1989 before winning two more with the Wildcats in 1995 and 2000. He also played for the Australian national team at the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1998 FIBA World Championship.
Calvin Thomas Bruton, is an American-born Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He has been an integral part of the National Basketball League (NBL) since its inception. Bruton won an NBL championship with the Brisbane Bullets in 1985, was a two-time member of the All-NBL First Team while playing for the Geelong Supercats and was named NBL Coach of the Year while he was a player-coach for the Supercats in 1982. He also won a second NBL championship while coaching the Perth Wildcats in 1990. As a result, Bruton became one of the first inductees into the NBL Hall of Fame when it opened in 1998.
Alan Black is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He is most notable for coaching both the Perth Wildcats and the Cairns Taipans in the Australian National Basketball League.
Matthew Peter Nielsen is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He served as an assistant coach for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL) from 2015 to 2019.
Damian Patrick Martin is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played four years of college basketball in the United States for the Loyola Marymount Lions before playing 13 years in the National Basketball League (NBL). After two seasons with the West Sydney Razorbacks / Sydney Spirit, he joined the Perth Wildcats in 2009 and won six NBL championships in 11 seasons. He also won the NBL Best Defensive Player Award six times, leading to the league naming the trophy after him upon his retirement.
Martin Clarke is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He is the former head coach of the National Basketball League's Adelaide 36ers and was an assistant coach of the Australian Boomers at the 2012 London Olympics. In 2018, Clarke was hired as the director of the NBA Global Academy at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in Canberra.
Kevin John Lisch is an American former professional basketball player and coach, most known for his time spent in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) as a player. He also holds an Italian passport and is an Australian citizen.
Mitchell Robert Norton is an Australian professional basketball player for the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League (NBL). He is also contracted with the Southern Districts Spartans of the NBL1 North. He began his career in 2011 with the Townsville Crocodiles before joining the Illawarra Hawks in 2016 following the collapse of his hometown team. After two seasons with the Hawks, he joined the Perth Wildcats and won two NBL championships in five seasons. He has also played for the Townsville Heat in the Queensland Basketball League and the Southland Sharks in the New Zealand NBL.
Nicholas Colin Kay is an Australian professional basketball player for Shimane Susanoo Magic of the Japanese B.League. He played college basketball for the Metro State Roadrunners before beginning his professional career in the National Basketball League (NBL). He won two NBL championships with the Perth Wildcats in 2019 and 2020. He also won a New Zealand NBL championship and league MVP honours with the Wellington Saints in 2019. In 2021, he won a bronze medal with the Australian national team at the Tokyo Olympics.
Patrick Hennessy Hunt AM is a leading Australian basketball coach particularly in the field of player and coach development.
Rob Beveridge is an Australian professional basketball coach. After coaching the under-19 Australian Emus at the 2003 World Championship to a gold medal win, he began his National Basketball League (NBL) coaching career in 2007 with the West Sydney Razorbacks. The club re-branded as the Sydney Spirit and then folded; Beveridge subsequently joined the Perth Wildcats in 2009 and won an NBL championship in 2010. After four years, three grand finals and one championship, he left the Wildcats and joined the Illawarra Hawks in 2015. He led the Hawks to a grand final appearance in 2017 and left after four seasons.