Brian Edward Kerle (born 29 August 1945) is an Australian former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and coach. He competed in the men's tournament at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. As a coach, he led the St. Kilda Pumas and the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to th ...

to two championships each in the National Basketball League (NBL). In 2006, Kerle was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame (now part of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame).

Playing career

Club career

A relatively late starter to basketball, Kerle began playing with Oxley in the lower levels of Brisbane basketball in 1965. He later moved to Lang Park in the A grade. Kerle was recruited to the St Kilda Basketball Club from Brisbane in 1967.

International career

His first tournament for Australia was the

1970 FIBA World Championship The 1970 FIBA World Championship was the 6th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Yugoslavia in Sarajevo, Split, Karlovac, Skopje and Ljubljana, from 10 to 24 May 1970. It was ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Kerle was selected for the

. Kerle played in the

1974 FIBA World Championship The 1974 FIBA World Championship was the 7th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Puerto Rico from July 3 to 14, 1974. The tournament was won by the Soviet Union. Venues Comp ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

Coaching career

Kerle took charge of St. Kilda in 1977 while they were still in the Victorian league. He continued as coach as the team entered the NBL. He led the Pumas to back-to-back championships in 1979 and 1980. In 1981, despite finishing top of the table during the regular season, St Kilda was forced to withdraw from the NBL finals after accepting an invitation to play at the 1981 FIBA Club World Cup. In São Paulo, the Pumas finished eighth out of nine teams. Kerle was sacked by St Kilda in 1983, having been involved with the club for 16 years. In 1984, Kerle joined the Brisbane Bullets. Kerle was sacked after the 1992 season. He returned to the Bullets in 1998. He is a four-time championship-winning coach in the National Basketball League (NBL).

Honours

National *Two-time Australian Club Champion – 1972, 1975 NBL *Four-time NBL champion – 1979, 1980, 1985, 1987 *Two-time

NBL Coach of the Year The National Basketball League Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1980 NBL season to the best head coach of the regular season. At the season's end, each c ...

– 1984, 1990 Halls of fame *Basketball Victoria Wall of Fame – 1990 *

NBL Hall of Fame The Australian Basketball Hall of Fame was instituted by the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1998 as the ''NBL Hall of Fame'' as part of their 20th season celebrations. The NBL initiated the Hall of Fame to recognise the outstanding players ...

– 2006 *QSport Hall of Fame – 2009 *Queensland Basketball Hall of Fame – 2018 Personal *

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

: 2000

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerle, Brian 1945 births Living people Australian men's basketball players 1970 FIBA World Championship players 1974 FIBA World Championship players Olympic basketball players of Australia Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Brisbane Brisbane Bullets coaches