Glen Denham

Glen Ivan Denham (born 22 March 1966) is a New Zealand former international basketball player. He played in over 200 games for his country and scored over 4000 points and 2000 rebounds during an illustrious NBL career. He is of Māori descent and his iwi affiliation is Te Arawa.

Early life

Denham was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, the son of a teacher and butcher. His father was Australian and mother was of Maori descent. He is the second of three children and grew up in Corstorphine, where he attended Corstorphine Primary School, and later Macandrew Intermediate School.Denham went to Kings High School from 1977-1982 where he was Head Boy. Whilst attending Kings, Denham hit 100 runs against Shirley Boys in 1982,^[1] and won the Salter Trophy,^[2] which is awarded to the school's sportsman of the year. Denham attended Otago University in 1982, where he met his future wife and graduated with a Bachelor of Teaching. Whilst at university, Denham played for The Otago University men’s Basketball club.^[3]

Basketball career

Denham made his NBL debut in 1986 for The Waikato Pistons, later moving to play for the Canterbury Rams, winning championships in 1989 and 1990. He moved back to Dunedin, where his 1991 debut for the Otago Nuggets ranked number 121 in the Otago Daily Times 2011 list of greatest moments in Otago sport.^[4] Denham left the club in 1997, but returned in 1999. During his international career between 1984 and 1999 he captained the Tall Blacks for 13 years, setting a record as the longest standing captain in Tall Blacks history. He was also named most outstanding New Zealand forward three times. He played in the 1986 FIBA World Championship^[5] where New Zealand placed 13th, and Denham scored an average of seven points per game. Denham mentored many of New Zealand's greatest players including; Phill Jones, Mark Dickel, Pero Cameron and Sean Marks. He appeared in Television 2's entertainment series Across the Ditch^[6] with Lana Coc-Kroft. He has appeared in numerous television shows including Sports Cafe, A Question of Sport, Clash of the Codes, Deaker, Give us a clue and 'A game of two halves'. He was a basketball commentator for NBL and international matches, as well as Radiosport. He was a host of the radio show 'The Bigger Breakfast'.

Teaching career

Denham moved to England in 2001, where he worked as principal of Oasis Academy Shirley Park^[7] in Croydon. In 2015, Denham returned home to become the principal of Massey High School.

References