Former Canberra Cannon and local basketball legend Jamie Pearlman has signed with the Adelaide 36ers as an assistant coach.
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Pearlman has signed a two-year deal with the NBL side, returning home to Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The former Cannon has spent the past two seasons as head coach of the Westports Malaysia Dragons in the ASEAN Basketball League in Asia.
Pearlman said it was a great experience before the pandemic arrived.
"It was a fantastic experience, to go over there and basically be responsible for fully setting it up, setting up a new culture, a new system, getting to know a whole new organisation," he said.
"Going over there and trying to put things in place about how you want the program to run was a great experience for me.
"We definitely had our ups and downs as a team, but the second year we had quite a successful year until unfortunately COVID hit and suspended the league."
Having been assistant coach at the Cairns Taipans in the NBL, Pearlman travelled to New Zealand to test his skills as head coach for Nelson in the New Zealand NBL.
After his experiences overseas, Pearlman says he has the desire to be a head coach at the elite level.
"Look, I'm really happy to be back in the NBL as an assistant coach, but I think, like any assistant coach, I have that desire to be a head coach in the best league they can possibly be in," he said.
"When I went from an assistant coach in Cairns to the head coach job in Nelson in the New Zealand NBL, that was what I wanted to do, I wanted to go and be a head coach.
"Then again to have an opportunity to the ASEAN league and be a head coach over there again, that's what I wanted to do."
With 243 NBL games with Cairns and Canberra under his belt, the 36ers assistant draws on his experiences when coaching.
Pearlman said he's looking forward to bringing his defensive mindset and experiences to the young group.
"I've always been a defensive-minded player and coach, that defensive toughness and that intent and desire at the defensive end," he said.
"That's always been my number one first focus, is to set a certain standard at the defensive end. Then really, it's just to share my experiences as a former player, and now as a coach.
"It's a very young team, there's a lot of youth in this team, so I'm definitely looking forward to sharing my experience with them and helping them in any way I can to help them accelerate their performance."
