New Basketball ACT boss Michael Haynes wants to create a "connection with the sport's heroes", revealing his desire to revive Canberra's link to the NBL.
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Haynes was appointed as Basketball ACT's new boss on Wednesday and will replace Maxwell Gratton when he starts his three-year tenure on March 15.
The former Basketball Australia chief operating officer and solicitor is keen to grow the sport in the capital on the back of record participation numbers.
Basketball ACT is also close to finishing construction of its million-dollar three-on-three courts at its Belconnen headquarters in what Haynes hopes will become an "untapped resource".
Canberra officials have been forced to source more courts to cater for its 8000 registered participants and Basketball ACT will report a profit for the first time in its history at an annual general meeting in the coming months.
Basketball's boom has prompted talks to re-launch an NBL presence in the capital but forming links with existing teams instead of reviving the Canberra Cannons, who went bust 13 years ago.
"It's really important to have a connection to the heroes of the game," Haynes said.
"There's someone like Patty Mills, but then there's Rob Beveridge who coaches in the NBL and Jesse Wagstaff, who's a long-term NBL player.
"The NBL has done a good job of re-establishing itself as a league. Canberra has a team in in the WNBL and there's a higher percentage of female participation [in Canberra] than any other states.
"You have to guess the Capitals play a big role in that. So to do get connection with the NBL ... would be really, really important."
Any plans to lure NBL clubs to Canberra would also hinge on the future of the AIS Arena, with the Australian Sports Commission considering a radical transformation of Canberra's premier indoor venue.
Haynes is a former commission sports consultant and has also worked as the chief executive of NSW Northern Suburbs Basketball Association, Basketball Australia's general manager of community basketball and the head coach of Basketball Northern Territory.
"I lived in Canberra for 15 years and the Basketball ACT job really is quite unique. I'm excited by the challenges and what's ahead."
