Adrian Hurley OAM (born 21 April 1944) is an Australian former basketball player and coach. His major achievements include establishing the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS) basketball program and leading the Perth Wildcats to the NBL title in 1995. He coached the Australian Boomers at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics and at the 1986 and 1990 FIBA world championships.

Playing career

Hurley began his basketball career in Wollongong in the early 1960s. He won a number of State junior titles and played on the NSW Open team that won the Australian Championships in 1967. He played for NSW for 5 years and captained the 1970 NSW team. In the early 1970s he moved to the USA where he coached basketball in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

. At this time he completed his PhD in Education.

Coaching career

On returning to Australia he lectured at Wollongong Institute of Education and commenced coaching the Illawarra Hawks in State and Australian Championships. He coached Illawarra to a number of State titles during this period. Hurley began his National Basketball League coaching career with the Illawarra Hawks in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. In 1981 he moved to Canberra as the foundation basketball coach of the

. He served as Head Coach at the AIS from 1981 to 1992. From 1983 to 1992 he was a Vice-President of the World Coaches Association and President of the Oceania Region Coaching. During his time at the AIS he was assistant coach of the Australia national basketball team to Lindsay Gaze at the 1982 FIBA World Championships and the

1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to: *The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia *The 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an intern ...

. He was appointed as the head coach of the Australian Men's team in 1985 and coached the Boomers at the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

and the 1986 and 1990 FIBA World Championships. In 1987 he coached the AIS women's team to the title at the Australian Women's Club Championships. At the 1988 Olympics he was the first Australian Men's team coach to take Australia to the medal round where Australia finished in 4th place. In 1992 he coached the Boomers to 6th place at the Barcelona Olympics the second highest finish for the Boomers at that stage. Hurley was a national men's team (Boomers) selector from 1976 to 1992 and a member of the Australian Coaching Council 1985–90. During this period he conducted and gave lectures at many basketball coaching clinics throughout Australia, the South Pacific and in Europe. He left the AIS in 1993 and was appointed Perth Wildcats head coach where he coached from 1993 until 1997. As a result, he also gave up coaching the Boomers and was replaced by Barry Barnes. Hurley led the Wildcats to Grand Finals in 1993 and 1995, winning the latter. In 1995 his Perth Wildcats won the "triple crown" when they won the pre-season championship, the minor premiership and the title. This was the first time in NBL history that this feat had been achieved. In the same year he coached the Wildcats at the World Club Championship in London where the Wildcats played the NBA champions the Houston Rockets. The Wildcats finished third in the championship, the highest ever performance by an Australian team. In 1997 he resigned from the Wildcats. In 2004–05 he was the head coach of the Hunter Pirates. In that year he took the Pirates from last place the previous year (where they had 2 wins) to 15 wins and the playoffs. He was subsequently named the NBL Coach of the Year in 2005. He coached the Pirates in 2005–06 and once again they made the playoffs. The Pirates were sold to Singapore for the next season and Hurley retired and now lives in Newcastle. In 2007 he was elected President of Basketball NSW a position he was to hold until the end of 2010.

Honours

Hurley was named as the NSW Coach of the Year for basketball in 1975, NSW Waratah League Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003and was named the Newcastle and Hunter region Coach of the Year in 2003. In 1991 he was awarded an Award of Merit by Prime Minister Hawke for his contributions to the Australian Institute of Sport. He was awarded a Basketball Australia Merit Award. In 2000 he received the Australian Sports Medal. He was a Torch Bearer for the 2000 Olympics. In 2004-5 NBL season he won the NBL Coach of the Year. Hurley is a Life Member of the Australian Basketball Coaches Association. He was awarded the Sports Australia Eunice Gill Sports Educator of the Year in 1990. He is a Life Member of the Illawarra Basketball Association and Basketball Australia. He was inducted into the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame as a coach in 2004. In 1991 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal. In 2022, Hurley was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurley, Adrian 1944 births Living people Australian Institute of Sport coaches Australian men's basketball coaches Australian men's basketball players Australian Olympic coaches National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees