Brendan Joyce

Last updated

Brendan Joyce
Brendan Joyce.jpg
Joyce in 2016
Ballarat Miners
TitleHead coach
League NBL1 South
Personal information
Born (1960-05-01) 1 May 1960 (age 65)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Listed height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Listed weight79 kg (174 lb)
Career information
Playing career1979–1991
Position Guard
Coaching career1993–present
Career history
Playing
1979–1982 Nunawading Spectres
1983–1984 St. Kilda Saints
1985–1987 Nunawading / Eastside Spectres
1988–1990 Westside Saints
1991 Brisbane Bullets
Coaching
1993–1995 Ballarat Miners
1996–2006 Illawarra / Wollongong Hawks
2007–2009 Gold Coast Blaze
2019–2021Ballarat Miners
2021–2024 Kaohsiung Aquas
2026–Ballarat Miners
Career highlights
As coach:

Brendan Joyce (born 1 May 1960) [1] is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Ballarat Miners women's team of the NBL1 South. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1979 and 1991 before beginning his coaching career in 1993. After back-to-back ABA National championships with the Ballarat Miners men in 1994 and 1995, he joined the Illawarra Hawks as head coach in 1996. He was named NBL Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and guided the Hawks to the NBL championship in 2001. In 2022, Joyce guided the Kaohsiung Aquas to the T1 League championship.

Contents

Joyce served as an assistant coach with the Australian Boomers between 2001 and 2009, and served as head coach of the Australian Opals between 2013 and 2016.

Early life

Joyce was born in Melbourne, Victoria. [2]

Playing career

Joyce debuted in the National Basketball League in its inaugural season in 1979 with the Nunawading Spectres.[ citation needed ] He was a member of the Spectres' NBL Grand Final team in 1981. [3] Following a fourth season with the Spectres in 1982, he played for the St. Kilda Saints in 1983 and 1984. He returned to the Spectres in 1985 and played another three seasons for the team. He then made a return to the Saints, now known as the Westside Saints, in 1988. After three seasons with Westside, he played one final NBL season in 1991 with the Brisbane Bullets.[ citation needed ]

Joyce led the NBL in assists in 1988 and played in the 1988 and 1989 NBL All-Star games. [3]

National team

In 1981, Joyce served as captain of the Australian under 23 national team. [4]

Coaching career

Joyce became head coach of the Ballarat Miners of the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) in 1993. [5] In 1994 and 1995, he guided the Miners to back-to-back ABA National championships [5] and earned back-to-back SEABL Coach of the Year awards. [6]

In 1996, Joyce became head coach of the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL. [7] He was voted NBL Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001. [8] In 2001, he guided the Hawks to the NBL championship. [3] In late December 2006, just days after Christmas, he was sacked by the Hawks following an on-going dispute with the club's CEO. [3] [9] [10]

In January 2007, Joyce was named the inaugural coach of the Gold Coast Blaze, starting in the 2007–08 NBL season. [11] [12] In February 2008, he became the fifth person to coach 400 games in the NBL. [13] He guided the Blaze to the playoffs in their first year. [14] Following the 2008–09 NBL season where the Blaze finished on the bottom of the ladder, Joyce was sacked. [15]

In November 2018, Joyce was appointed head coach of the Ballarat Miners men's team of the NBL1 for the next three years. [16] [17] He parted ways with the Miners in October 2021. [18]

Joyce joined the Kaohsiung Aquas in 2021 for the first season of T1 League. [19] [20] The Aquas played well throughout the year, [21] [22] [23] [24] setting a number of individual and team records. [25] [26] The Aquas secured the number one seed prior to the playoffs, [27] [28] and won the T1 League's inaugural championship in a three-game sweep of the Taichung Wagor Suns. [29] [30] [31] On June 24, 2022, Joyce received the Coach of the Year award for the 2021–22 T1 League season. [32] He parted ways with the Aquas in May 2024. [33]

In December 2025, Joyce was appointed head coach of the Ballarat Miners women's team for the 2026 NBL1 South season. [34] [35]

National team

Joyce joined Barry Barnes' Australian national team program as a guest assistant coach in the lead up to the 2000 Olympic Games with games against Russia and Canada. [36] He served as an assistant coach with the Boomers between 2001 and 2009, including two Olympic Games [37] at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

In 2013, Joyce was named head coach of the Australian Opals. [37] [38] He coached them through to the 2016 Rio Olympics. [39]

Personal life

Joyce and his wife, Joanne, raised their four children in Wollongong. [40]

In November 2025, Joyce was inducted into the Victoria University (VU) Sport Hall of Fame. [4]

References

  1. ↑ "Brendan Joyce". Aussie Hoopla. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "About". brendanjoyce.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 August 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "BRENDAN JOYCE - WOLLONGONG HAWKS HEAD COACH". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  4. 1 2 "VU Sport Hall of Fame to induct Australian basketball great Brendan Joyce". Victoria University. 25 November 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  5. 1 2 "FROM THE VAULT: SEABL REMEMBERS THE BALLARAT MINERS DYNASTY". Australiabasket.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "COACH OF THE YEAR - SEABL MEN -" (PDF). SEABL.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  7. ↑ "History Breakdown". hawkshistory.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  8. ↑ "Coach of the Year". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  9. ↑ "Hawks axe Joyce". ABC News. 29 December 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  10. ↑ "Dragons come back to overpower Hawks". ABC News. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  11. ↑ "Joyce to coach new franchise". Television New Zealand . 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  12. ↑ "Blaze Coaching staff". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 2 September 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  13. ↑ "Joyce jumps into elite company". Archived from the original on 14 February 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  14. ↑ "Joyce named coach of the year". goldcoast.com.au. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 July 2008.
  15. ↑ "Joyce could be lost to basketball". ABC News. 8 May 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  16. ↑ Brehaut, David (12 November 2018). "Basketball great appointed Ballarat Miners head coach". www.thecourier.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  17. ↑ "Former Opals Coach heads back to Ballarat". Ballarat Times. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  18. ↑ Nash, Ollie (25 October 2021). "Miners, Rush on the hunt for new coaches". www.thecourier.com.au. Archived from the original on 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  19. ↑ "Fil-Am guard Jason Brickman eyes T1 LEAGUE championship trophy". Central News Agency. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  20. ↑ "Kaohsiung Aquas take T1 LEAGUE opener in thriller". Central News Agency. 27 November 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  21. ↑ "Fil-Am Jason Brickman putting on clinic in Taiwan's T1 LEAGUE". Central News Agency. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  22. ↑ Yen, William (30 December 2021). "T1 LEAGUE to end 2021 with top-two showdown". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  23. ↑ Yen, William (4 January 2022). "INTERVIEW/Brendan Joyce from Down Under makes splash with Kaohsiung Aquas". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  24. ↑ Yen, William (4 April 2022). "P. LEAGUE+ & T1 LEAGUE/Kaohsiung Aquas top GhostHawks, stay on top in T1 League". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  25. ↑ Yen, William (20 May 2022). "P. LEAGUE+ & T1 LEAGUE/Fil-Am point guard Jason Brickman sets new assists record in T1 LEAGUE". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  26. ↑ Yen, William (14 February 2022). "Kaohsiung Aquas raise T1 LEAGUE single-game record to 133 points". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  27. ↑ "P. LEAGUE+ & T1 LEAGUE/Kaohsiung Aquas bag another win, poised to secure season's top spot". Central News Agency. 16 April 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  28. ↑ Yen, William (18 April 2022). "P. LEAGUE+ & T1 LEAGUE/Kaohsiung Aquas clinch T1 LEAGUE regular-season crown". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  29. ↑ Yen, William (31 May 2022). "P. LEAGUE+ & T1 LEAGUE/Aquas Kevin Hu hits clutch trey to clinch Game 1 of T1 LEAGUE final series". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  30. ↑ Yen, William (2 June 2022). "Kaohsiung Aquas bag another win, close in on inaugural T1 LEAGUE title". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  31. ↑ Yen, William (4 June 2022). "Kaohsiung Aquas make history as first-ever T1 LEAGUE champion". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  32. ↑ Yen, William (24 June 2022). "P. LEAGUE+ & T1 LEAGUE/Brendan Joyce from Down Under named T1 LEAGUE coach of the year". Central News Agency. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  33. ↑ "海神冠軍教頭喬伊斯掌舵3年離隊 階段性任務完成返鄉陪家人". ETtoday. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  34. ↑ "Brendan Joyce Returns to Lead Ballarat Miners Women's Team - Basketball Ballarat". ballaratbasketball.com. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  35. ↑ "Brendan Joyce Returns to Lead Ballarat". NBL1.com.au. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  36. ↑ "Brendan Joyce Bio". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 22 June 2001. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  37. 1 2 Feinberg, Doug (15 May 2013). "Former Boomers assistant Brendan Joyce appointed head coach of Aussie women's basketball team". Fox News . Associated Press. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  38. ↑ "Brendan Joyce to lead Opals to Rio". Australian Olympic Committee. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  39. ↑ Arsenis, Damian (24 February 2017). "Brendan Joyce on life after the Opals". pickandroll.com.au. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  40. ↑ O'Brien, Julian (7 March 2025). "Hawks' sole championship coach confident current team can take title". Region Illawarra. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.