The Adelaide 36ers have wasted no time in their coaching search, with reports linking the club to a bold move for championship-winning coach Trevor Gleeson.
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Just hours after Mike Wells stepped down as head coach of the Adelaide 36ers, reports from 9 News suggest the club is making a strong push to land five-time NBL champion coach Trevor Gleeson.
The move would set up a high-profile reunion with Bryce Cotton, a pairing that delivered multiple championships in Perth and could quickly shift the balance of power across the league.
Gleeson, 57, is currently coaching the Chiba Jets in Japan’s B.League, where he has been since 2024. His first season ended in a semi-final loss to eventual champions Utsunomiya Brex, and he has since guided the club to a 42-18 record and a second-place finish in the East District ahead of the current playoffs.
A return to Australia has been on Gleeson’s radar for some time. He built one of the NBL’s modern dynasties with the Perth Wildcats between 2013 and 2021, winning five championships, including three alongside Cotton.
After leaving Perth, he spent time in the NBA as an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, adding further experience to an already decorated resumé.
Now, with Adelaide suddenly in the market for a head coach, the timing feels significant.
For a club that came within a single rebound of ending a 24-year title drought, the chance to bring in a proven winner, and potentially reunite one of the league’s most successful partnerships, looms as a defining moment in its next chapter.