Dean Vickerman, Associate Head Coach will be flanked by a group of NBL gun coaches with Kerry Williams (Adelaide) & Luke Brennan (SEM Phoenix) and the welcomed return of John Rillie (Perth) for the upcoming Hobart clash on 28 November versus New Zealand.
Rillie will don the Australian polo for the first time since the historic bronze-medal campaign in Tokyo in 2020 where he served as an assistant to Brian Goorjian. It will be the second re-integration for Rillie, who initially represented Australia as a coach from 1997 – 2004.
“Excited to be back involved with the Boomers. Any time you get to represent your country, in any role, it’s a great honour,” said Rillie.
Kerry Williams and Luke Brennan were most recently involved in the FIBA Asia Cup qualification run with Jacob Chance as interim head coach.
Williams has been an influential figure in the Boomers ranks since 2021 and was joined by Brennan for the recent double-header against Thailand and Indonesia in February.
The Boomers outlined a coach by committee approach in July and with Caporn aiming to apply it as strategic advantage with a dynamic schedule ahead for World Cup qualification.
As per plan, the group will be fronted by Dean Vickerman, with the Melbourne United head coach assuming the responsibilities of Adam Caporn in windows that clash with Washington Wizards activity.
“There’s an incredible level of experience and expertise in this group and we’re committed to the process of bringing in complimentary coaching staff,” said Jason Smith, Executive General Manager of Basketball Australia.
“We have an immense amount of respect for the Tall Blacks, so it’s imperative that we have high quality coaches, not only for the performance component but to continually meet the standards we want the group to uphold as Boomers.”
The Boomers start their World Cup qualification campaign with a double-header versus the Tall Blacks, starting on 28 November in Hobart before travelling to Wellington on 1 December.
Hobart is the official host city of this FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifier and the event is supported by the Tasmanian Government.
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