Trevor Gleeson

Trevor Gleeson is an Australian professional basketball coach.

He started coaching in 1990 in the Victorian Basketball League with the Warrnambool Seahawks. He spent many years as an assistant coach before taking over Sioux Falls Skyforce in the Continental Basketball Association. He was coach for the Townsville Crocodiles in the NBL from 2006–2011 before he signed as head coach for the Melbourne Tigers for the 2011–12 season.

Life and early career

Gleeson was born in Melbourne, Victoria and began his coaching career with the Warrnambool Seahawks in the Victorian Basketball League in 1990. In 1993, he earned himself the head coach of the Victorian Basketball League All-Star Team. Moving to the Gold Coast to contiune his studies, he coached the Griffith University men's basketball program in 1997, then proceeded to move his talents to Brisbane, where his next job was assistant coach & development at the Brisbane Bullets. He remained at the club until the end of 2000. His success with the Bullets got him over to America where he was again assistant coach for Quad City Thunder in the Continental Basketball Association. He spent a year there before joining Sioux Falls Skyforce in the CBA for 2001–02. He then got his first job as a head coach in professional basketball when he returned to the Sioux Falls Skyforce in February 2003. He was also a player scout for the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2003–04 NBA season.

Senior coaching career

Sioux Falls Skyforce (2003–2004)

Trevor Gleeson took over as coach midway through the 2002–03 season after coach Stacey King had a poor winning record. Gleeson tried to bring the Skyforce into the finals but was unsuccessful with a record of 7-8 when he took over. Gleeson did get to have another crack but was again unsuccessful as they finished 5th place although it was better than their previous season. Gleeson was then replaced by ‘the next big thing’ in Dave Joerger.

South Korea (2004–2006)

Trevor Gleeson’s next job was at the Seoul Samsung Thunders in the Korean Basketball League as an assistant for one year before heading to the Jeonju KCC Egis for the 2005–06 season.

NBL (2006–2012)

Gleeson signed with the Townsville Crocodiles for the 2006–07 season. This saw Gleeson return to Australia after spending six years in Korea and America. Despite being outsiders to make the playoffs, the Crocs finished fifth. The following season saw Gleeson’s team struggle in the first quarter of the season but soon became a tough team to beat in the competition. But on 22 December 2007, a match between the Crocs and Wollongong Hawks saw Gleeson get ejected out of the game after receiving back-to-back technical fouls midway through the third quarter after a dispute with referee Campbell Craddock over a bad call. The following week, Gleeson received a fine for $1500 by the NBL tribunal for misconduct and a one-match ban suspended for 12 months on good behaviour. Gleeson once again took the Crocs to the playoffs again but ended up the same result.

In the 2008–09 NBL season, Gleeson's side finished 5th after the regular season. Gleeson took the Crocs to the semi-finals before losing the series 2–1 by eventual champions the South Dragons. Gleeson was named runner-up for NBL Coach of the Year.

Gleeson resigned from the Crocodiles after the 2010–11 season, joining the Melbourne Tigers for 2011–12. On 4 June 2012, the Melbourne Tigers announced that after a review, Gleeson and the Tigers had decided to part ways.^[1]

Perth Wildcats (2013–present)

On 20 June 2013, Gleeson signed a three-year deal to be the Perth Wildcats head coach until the end of the 2015–16 NBL season.^[2]

Achievements

• Head coach of the 1993 Victorian Basketball League All-Star Team
• 2011 NBL Coach of the Year^[3]

References

External links

• Profile at Eurobasket.com