REPORT: Frontrunner emerges for 36ers job

Fresh off the news that Mike Wells is stepping down from his role at the Adelaide 36ers, a frontrunner has reportedly emerged to take on the head coaching position.

According to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc, via Wednesday’s emergency edition of The Marketplace, presented by Paywise, five-time NBL champion Trevor Gleeson appears to be the frontrunner for the vacant role.

“My reporting is that, make no mistake about it, Trevor Gleeson is the frontrunner for this position,” Uluc said on The Marketplace, presented by Paywise.

“There is mutual interest between Trevor Gleeson and the Adelaide 36ers, who are a team that doesn’t mess around and isn’t afraid to spend money.

“I said publicly that Trevor was waiting for this position to become open, and for the last few weeks, we thought it might not become open because it did seem like the 36ers had committed to rolling the dice with Mike Wells for one more season.

“But now that this position is open, there's a sense that the 36ers are interested in Trevor Gleeson and that he would be interested in the position.”

If Gleeson does end up in Adelaide, it would reunite him with six-time MVP Bryce Cotton, with whom he won three NBL championships.

“Obviously, the prospect of coaching Bryce Cotton again and that Adelaide has the framework of a team that just got to a Championship Series [are both enticing],” Uluc said.

“You add a piece here and there, and in this case, you add a Bul Kuol, a different third import and Trevor Glesson potentially, and all of a sudden, that's the thing that gets them over the line and makes them a championship team.

“There'll be a lot of noise, there'll be a lot of names thrown around, and the team will begin a search and will go through a process.

“I’m told Matt Weston and the decision maker in that franchise do have a preferred list of candidates, but my impression is that there is a whole lot of space between Trevor Gleeson and the next candidate.

“Obviously, a deal still has to get done, and terms agreed to, but there is a mutual interest, and I’d be surprised if Trevor Gleeson isn’t in the position come the start of the season.”

During his time in the NBL, Gleeson has coached in Townsville, Melbourne and Perth across 14 seasons, for a total of 460 games.

To date, he has a winning percentage of 59.6 (272/460), and has two Coach of the Year awards and one NBL Cup to his name.

Headlined by Cotton, who reportedly didn’t see the Wells news coming, the 36ers roster for the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 Season will also consist of Zylan Cheatham, Flynn Cameron, Isaac Humphries, Kuol, Isaac White, and Ben Griscti.

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