Darryl "The Iceman" Pearce (born 15 October 1960) is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) for the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

from 1982 to 1991 before playing four seasons (1992–1995) with the

North Melbourne Giants The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of ...

. A 6'3" (191 cm) Shooting guard, Pearce is regarded as one of the best ever

Three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

shooters in NBL history having shot at 41.9% from beyond the arc during his 374-game career.

Career

Adelaide 36ers

Darryl Pearce was born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and was a member of junior South Australian teams in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The

were formed for the

1982 NBL season The 1982 NBL season was the fourth season of the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). Regular season The 1982 regular season took place over 22 rounds between 6 February 1982 and 11 July 1982. Each team playe ...

(as the ''Adelaide City Eagles'') with Pearce one of the first guards signed by the club. He made his NBL debut on 6 February 1982 in Adelaide's 87–84 loss to the

Coburg Giants The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of ...

at Adelaide's

Apollo Stadium Apollo Stadium (officially called the Apollo Entertainment Centre) was a multi-purpose indoor arena located at 41 Kingston Avenue, Richmond, South Australia, just 5 minutes from the Adelaide city centre. The stadium had an original seating capac ...

. Pearce scored 14 points and collected 4 rebounds on debut for the new club. He would go on to average 15.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in his first season. The club changed its name to the Adelaide 36ers from the

1983 NBL season The 1983 NBL season was the fifth season of the National Basketball League (NBL). The regular season began on 10 February and ended on 18 June. The finals began on 23 June with the divisional finals before concluding on 4 July with the NBL Grand ...

, though the club failed to make the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

until

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

where they were defeated in the Elimination Finals by the

Nunawading Spectres Nunawading Spectres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Melbourne East Basketball Association (MEBA), the major administrative basketball o ...

. By this time "The Iceman" had cemented his place as one of the premier shooting guards in the league. Following the 1984 season, Adelaide's "other" team, the 1982 champion

West Adelaide Bearcats West Adelaide Bearcats is a NBL1 Central club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club fields both a men's and women's team. The club is a division of the overarching West Adelaide Basketball Club (WABC), the major administrative basketball o ...

, pulled out of the NBL and a number of their star players including 1982 season

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

Al Green,

Australian boomers The Australian men's national basketball team, known as the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has been placed among the world elite t ...

representatives Peter Ali and Ray Wood, and young gun Mike McKay, moved across to play for the 36ers. Former Australian Boomer and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

Olympic representative Ken Cole was signed as coach of the Adelaide 36ers for the

1985 NBL season The 1985 NBL season was the seventh season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 14 teams contested the league. Regular season The 1985 regular season took place over 18 rounds between 12 April 1985 and 18 August 1985. Roun ...

. Under Cole, the 36ers became one of the league's premier teams. Also joining the 36ers was 6'9" (206 cm)

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

Bill Jones, and 6'7" (201 cm) rebounding

Power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

. Adelaide went on to a 20–6 record and second on the regular season ladder behind the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL f ...

. The team had a bye going into the semi-final where they easily defeated for the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

151–103 at home in what is still a record semi-final win in the NBL. In the last single game NBL grand final ever played, Adelaide were up against the Brisbane Bullets on the Bullets' home court ( Sleeman Sports Centre). Going into the final period the game the Bullets' were leading 78–74 but a 42–21 last period in favour of the home team saw Adelaide fail to win their first grand final going down 95–120. Statistically Darryl Pearce enjoyed his best ever NBL season in 1985, averaging 22.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists. With Green and Pearce, the 36ers had what many believed to be the league's best guard combination despite both being natural shooting guards. Cole successfully chose to leave Pearce at SG (primarily due to his better outside shooting) and move Green to play Point guard. Green jokingly later told that he "hated" Pearce for being forced to play the point, but added seriously that he would play alongside him any day because he is "a true winner". Pearce and the 36ers won their first NBL championship in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, defeating the Brisbane Bullets 2–1 in the NBL's first ever three game Grand Final series. The Iceman averaged 19.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the season while averaging 23.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the GF series. While Adelaide, now under the coaching of Gary Fox, was still at the top of the league in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

and

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 Bicenten ...

, they were unable to progress past the Semi-finals in both seasons. Pearce averaged 20.6 points in both seasons. In Round 2 of the 1988 season against the Ken Cole coached Newcastle Falcons in Newcastle, Pearce set two Adelaide 36ers records that still stand as of the

2014–15 NBL season The 2014–15 NBL season was the 37th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 10 October 2014 and 22 February 2015, followed by a post-season featu ...

. He set the 36ers single game scoring record with 48 points and also set the record for most three-pointers made when he hit 11/14 from outside the arc with only Brett Maher able to match his 3-point record when he hit 11/12 in a game against Brisbane in 1996. The team slipped to 6th place in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

in Fox's last year as coach before missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years by finishing 9th in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

under new coach and long time team assistant Don Shipway. Despite Adelaide missing the playoffs in 1990, Pearce was selected to his only NBL All Star Game played at the

Perth Entertainment Centre The Perth Entertainment Centre was an indoor arena and cinema complex in Perth, Western Australia, located on Wellington Street at the northern edge of the Perth central business district. It was demolished as part of the Perth City Link projec ...

. The club was back in the Semi-finals in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, but once again fell short, losing the Semis to defending champions the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

. 1991 would prove to be Darryl Pearce's last as a 36ers player and before the

1992 NBL season The 1992 NBL season was the 14th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 13 teams contested the league, Southern Melbourne having merged with Eastside Melbourne to form the South-East Melbourne Magic during the off seas ...

he was released by the club and would join the North Melbourne Giants. Darryl Pearce played 258 NBL games for the Adelaide 36ers.

North Melbourne Giants

Pearce joined North Melbourne for the 1992 season, with his first game for the club being against Adelaide at the 36ers new home, the 8,000 seat

Clipsal Powerhouse Adelaide Arena (known commercially as Adelaide 36ers Arena) is a multipurpose indoor sports stadium located in Findon, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the former home arena for the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL and th ...

. He scored 8 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists for the Giants, though they were beaten 106–84. Despite their poor start, the Giants would make the Semi-finals in 1992 where they were defeated in two games by the

South East Melbourne Magic The South East Melbourne Magic was an Australian basketball team based in Melbourne. The Magic competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1992 and 1998, and played their home games at Rod Laver Arena. In their seven seasons, the ...

. After being eliminated in the

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

Quarter finals by the

, the Giants bounced back in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

to win their second NBL championship after defeating Pearce's former club Adelaide 2–0 in the Grand Final series. Darryl Pearce's last season in the NBL came in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

. He announced his retirement after the Giants lost the Grand Final series to the Wildcats.

International

Darryl Pearce played numerous games for the

throughout his career. He represented Australia in the 1986 FIBA World Championship in Spain, as well as at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, South Korea.

Accolades

Darryl Pearce was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. On 14 November 2015, the Adelaide 36ers will formally retire the No. 4 worn by Darryl Pearce as well as the No. 15 of his long time guard partner Al Green. The numbers will join the No. 5 of Brett Maher and the No. 33 of their 1986 championship teammate Mark Davis hanging from the rafters of the

Titanium Security Arena Adelaide Arena (known commercially as Adelaide 36ers Arena) is a multipurpose indoor sports stadium located in Findon, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the former home arena for the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL and th ...

Current

As of 2016, Pearce lives in Melbourne where he works as a financial planner.Adelaide 36ers’ 1986 NBL ‘Invincibles’ sewed the seeds with a future foundation
/ref>

Honour roll

NBL career stats

, - , style="text-align:left", 1982 , style="text-align:left;", Adelaide City Eagles , 26 , , 26 , , ''NA'' , , .514 , , ''NA'' , , .761 , , 2.7 , , 2.0 , , ''NA'' , , ''NA'' , , 15.6 , - , style="text-align:left",

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 22 , , ''NA'' , , .516 , , ''NA'' , , .750 , , 1.7 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 24 , , ''NA'' , , .469 , , .440 , , .809 , , 3.1 , , 3.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 26.0 , - , style="text-align:left",

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , 28 , , ''NA'' , , .443 , , .454 , , .761 , , 2.9 , , 4.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.5 , , 22.8 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 29 , , ''NA'' , , .410 , , .388 , , .828 , , 3.1 , , 3.9 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 19.3 , - , style="text-align:left",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 21 , , 21 , , 33.3 , , .485 , , .444 , , .757 , , 2.1 , , 2.4 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 20.6 , - , style="text-align:left",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 26 , , 26 , , 37.4 , , .457 , , .411 , , .833 , , 2.5 , , 4.9 , , 1.1 , , 0.2 , , 20.6 , - , style="text-align:left",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 27 , , 35.8 , , .409 , , .344 , , .893 , , 2.5 , , 4.2 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 15.2 , - , style="text-align:left",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 26 , , 26 , , 33.9 , , .434 , , .447 , , .841 , , 2.5 , , 5.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.5 , , 16.9 , - , style="text-align:left",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 29 , , 24.8 , , .455 , , .446 , , .836 , , 1.5 , , 2.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.1 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left", 1992 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , ''NA'' , , 20.3 , , .437 , , .366 , , .852 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.0 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , ''NA'' , , 30.6 , , .412 , , .402 , , .655 , , 2.1 , , 3.7 , , 1.2 , , 0.3 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;",

† , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , ''NA'' , , 15.4 , , .464 , , .441 , , .692 , , 1.3 , , 1.5 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , ''NA'' , , 12.3 , , .435 , , .433 , , .667 , , 0.8 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 5.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career , 374 , , ''NA'' , , ''NA'' , , .453 , , .419 , , .797 , , 2.1 , , 3.2 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 15.6

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Darryl 1960 births Living people Adelaide 36ers players Australian men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics North Melbourne Giants players Olympic basketball players of Australia Shooting guards Basketball players from Adelaide 1986 FIBA World Championship players