Reunited in Adelaide: Gleeson and Cotton eye title glory

Incoming Adelaide 36ers coach Trevor Gleeson says he wants to help Bryce Cotton win “a couple of missing championships” to round out his illustrious NBL career.

Reunited in Adelaide after winning three championships together in Perth, Gleeson and Cotton will be key to helping the 36ers claim their first title since 2002.

“I’ve been watching from afar and just the vision of the team and where it’s headed,” Gleeson said after signing a three-year deal with the club.

“It really matched up with the vision and what they were looking for in a coach. That got me excited and I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.

“Obviously, we’ve got strong ties with Bryce, so that’s always incentive there to have arguably the best player in NBL history … it’s an exciting time.

“Bryce and I have probably stayed in contact, even for the five years that I’ve been away. I picked his brains. ‘What was good? What was bad? What can we do better?’

“Through that Perth Wildcats time, Bryce was the focal point. I’m glad to see that he’s kept improving and developing and growing, but he’s missing a couple of championships, so hopefully we can get that up to speed for him.”

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A five-time NBL championship coach, Gleeson arrives with an incredible pedigree in the League and high hopes from the Adelaide faithful, who’ve been starved of success for so long.

“To have the core nucleus there, something to build on, is much better than starting from scratch,” he said of the 36ers’ roster.

“I’m excited with Adelaide, with the roster and the foundations they’ve got there.

“Now we’ve just got to make sure that when we build it, we build it right, get on the court together and get that chemistry going.”

Mike Wells led the 36ers to within seconds of a drought-breaking championship, and Gleeson says he’d love nothing more than to go one step further with a star-studded roster.

“I’m motivated. I want to win. I want to win everything. I don’t care if it’s a game of chess or if it’s shooting hoops with my son in the backyard. I want to win,” he said.

He’s set to arrive in Adelaide next month to assume his role.

“I just finished in Japan here last weekend. We got to the semi-finals (with Chiba Jets) and did a great job getting there,” Gleeson said.

“Now it’s about getting the roster in place. I’ll sit down with Matt (Weston) and we’ll go through the vision we need and the areas we want to focus on.”