2024 Basketball Australia Schools Championships: Meet the NBL and WNBL legends giving back to next generation
They are some of the biggest names to come through the sport with 1000s of games experience at the top levels – now they are giving all that knowledge to the next gen. Meet the 10+ Aussie hoops legends coaching at the schools champs.
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She won three WNBL championships, played in a Commonwealth Games gold medal match and went to the Olympics, but even New Zealand Tall Ferns legend Micaela Cocks admits the nerves during her playing days don’t compare to the ones when she is coaching.
Cocks will be among a high-profile list of former basketball champions guiding the next generation of talent at the Basketball Australia Schools Championships on the Gold Coast.
CHECK OUT THE FULL LIST OF FORMER GREATS GRABBING THE CLIPBOARD BELOW
The Tall Ferns legend will take charge of the Rowville Sports Academy Under-17 Division 1 girls, with most of the squad backing up from their Under-15 Division 1 championship winning side from last year.
Every match from the Championship and Under-20 Division 1 tournaments at the BA Schools Championships will be exclusively live streamed on KommunityTV. Find out more.
It’s a role that has come from Cocks work at the Victorian basketball academy, where she acts as a development coach with some of the nation’s best young ballers.
Sometimes it is a role she wishes she could give back.
“It is a lot of fun, but I get way more nervous coaching a game than I ever did playing them,” Cocks said. “Even after the game is finished, I feel like I have way more adrenaline coursing through me.
“I have a new-found respect for all the coaches I have had. I look back on all my playing years and the mentors we had, and just wonder how they did it.”
The list of coaches Cocks had over her professional career is an honour roll of some of the best minds in the business from WNBL championship winners Chris Lucas, Claudia Brassard and Shannon Seebohm, to long-term Tall Ferns mentor Dean Kinsman.
It was her connection with Kinsman, who is now the Director of Basketball at Rowville, which brought Cocks on board at the proud nursery.
“I really enjoy the development work I do with the kids,” Cocks said. “The whole head coaching in games, I never really thought about that and I don’t think I want to do it professionally.
“But I really enjoy working with these kids and helping them develop on the court. As an older player I would always work with the development players, but I would also host indie clinics with the Townsville juniors. I really enjoyed that side of the game.
“That isn’t to say my competitive side doesn’t come out on game day. We still want to win when we get to the Gold Coast.”
Former NBL players Brent Hobba (Berwick College) and Anthony Petrie (The Southport School) will coach head-to-head in a stacked Championship boys division, while ex-WNBL and New Zealand Tall Ferns player Charmian Mellars (Marsden State High) will clash with former West Coast Eagles AFLW player Danika Pisconeri (Willetton Senior High) in the Championship Women’s division.
They are just a few names among an experienced coaches lending their years in the game to the next generation. Check out more below.
Adam Gibson
Rowville Sports Academy – Championship Women
The 450-game NBL veteran and former Australian Boomer will look to lead Rowville Sports Academy to back-to-back titles in the Championship women division. Gibson played in the professional ranks for more than 15 years, and since retiring has turned his attention to the next generation with his own coaching business.
Ian Stacker and Allison Tranquilli
Templestowe College – U20 Men’s Div 1, Under-17 Women Div 1
Former eight-year NBL veteran and two-time NBL Coach of the Year winner with the Townsville Crocodiles, Ian Stacker will be lending his experience to the young players of Templestowe College. The Australian basketball great won’t be alone either with Olympic silver medallist Allison Tranquilli coming on board as his assistant coach.
Tranquilli will also go head-to-head with Cocks as she takes the reins of the College’s Under-17 Women Division 1 team. The Templestowe Under-17 girls feature a couple of big names including the Trout sisters – Imogen and Matilda.
Dean Kinsman
Rowville Sports Academy – Championship Women, Under-17 Girls, Under-15 Girls
Kinsman played two seasons in the NBL for the Adelaide 36ers, but has really made his mark guiding the next generation as a coach. Kinsman spent four years as the head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport, he was a an assistant and head coach in the WNBL and a key part of the New Zealand Tall Ferns coaching staff at the 2008 Olympics. Kinsman is the current head coach of the Australian Gems Under-19 women's team and has built a successful program at Rowville Sports Academy over more than a decade.
Kerryn Mitchell
Flinders College – Under-15 Girls
A former 10-year veteran in the WNBL, Mitchell is part of the Southside Flyers WNBL coaching staff and has been a key part of the Basketball Victoria junior pathways system for a number of years.
Emma McDonald
John Paul College – Championship Women
Emma McDonald (nee Randall) was part of the 2006 World Championship winning Australian Opals squad and was also an Olympic silver medallist in Beijing. McDonald also won a WNBL Championship with the Dandenong Rangers and played a number of years with the Bulleen Boomers. The former Opal will be part of Andrew Olechnowicz coaching staff for John Paul College in the Championship division.
Rhys Martin
Cranbrook School – U20 Men’s Div 2
A two-time QBL champion with Rockhampton and Mackay, Martin spent a decade in the NBL with the Wollongong/Illawarra Hawks playing more than 200 games in the top grade despite facing several injury setbacks across his career. Martin will coach the Cranbrook School in their quest for the Under-20 Men’s Div 2 crown.
Gerard Leonard
Berwick College – U17 Men Div 1
Leonard played two seasons in the NBL with the Melbourne Tigers, winning a championship alongside Chris Anstey in 2005-06. While he was mainly a role player at the Tigers, Leonard made his presence felt in the SEABL with the Knox Raiders and Kilsyth Cobras. Leonard is a Cobras legend racking up more than 300 games with the club and topping more than 3000 career points. Leonard will lead an impressive Berwick College Under-17 Division 1 side.
Originally published as 2024 Basketball Australia Schools Championships: Meet the NBL and WNBL legends giving back to next generation
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