Knox Raiders Men’s NBL1 team unveils Matthew Nunn as coach

A highly esteemed coach with a long history in Victorian basketball is taking the reins of the Knox Raiders Men’s NBL1 team.

Knox Raiders’ senior NBL1 Men’s team has appointed a new head coach, Matt Nunn.

The new head coach of the Knox Raiders Men’s NBL1 team says he is looking forward to the challenge of working with an exciting mix of players.

Knox Basketball has appointed Matthew Nunn as head coach of its senior Knox Raiders Men’s NBL1 team in the league’s South Conference.

Nunn has a long history in Victorian basketball and was most recently head coach of Victoria’s U/20 state team.

He said he was looking forward to the opportunity to put his stamp on a NBL1 program.

“The way that I see it is the NBL1, the competition is becoming more professional, more fierce, where I think most teams will boast two to three NBL players and one to two American imports as well,” he said.

“So I think the level of competition has increased substantially, particularly post Covid.

“I look forward to the challenge of coaching a mixed group of professional and talented up and coming young players, it’s a really exciting mix.”

Nunn said as a business person, his coaching philosophy was very process driven.

“It’s all in and around people and open communication and feedback, but at the same time our style of play will be very contemporary, we want to be very fast, we want to move the ball very fast up the court, and fast breaks in transition will be important.”

Nunn said the team would be aiming to make finals and go as far as they could in the 2023 season.

“But it’s also not necessarily about wins and losses,” he said.

“It’s about development – how do we make our players better and increase their performance.”

Nunn said two American imports would be joining the team in 2023 and Melbourne United player Mason Peatling had also signed on for the season.

Matthew Nunn.

Knox Basketball chief executive Grant Harrison said the association was proud to have Nunn on board.

He said Nunn had the same vision as Knox Basketball about developing a pathway for young rising Knox stars to transition to senior basketball.

Mr Harrison said a lot of their junior players went on to play in the NBL or WNBL, and many were also recruited to play college basketball in the US.

Basketball is already booming in the outer east, and the huge expansion of the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South is expected to help grow the sport’s popularity even more.

Mr Harrison said the $132m upgrade of the centre was on track to be completed by next July or August, bringing the total number of courts at the venue to 18.

The centre already welcomes 800,000 people through its doors each year and this could grow to 2 million a year once the upgrade is complete.

A town square with food and beverage outlets is also being built, along with offices and facilities for the South East Melbourne Phoenix (NBL), Melbourne Boomers (WNBL) and Knox Basketball.

“It’s going to be amazing,” Mr Harrison said.

A big crowd at the State Basketball Centre in early November, 2022. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

He said the popularity of basketball had skyrocketed in Knox over the last couple of years.

“Just before Covid (Knox Basketball) broke the record of the most junior and senior domestic teams ever recorded and we’ve just beaten that again after Covid,” he said.

“Our registration numbers have grown tenfold and we’ve heard it’s the same with other associations around the eastern suburbs.”

Jess May has also been announced as the head coach of the Knox Raiders NBL1 Women’s team for season 2023.

Knox Raiders is one of Australia’s largest NBL1 clubs, winning 2022 NBL1 Club of the Year and drawing the highest average crowds in the South Conference with more than 2000 people in attendance at each game.

The NBL1 2023 season will start in late March.