Greg Hire

Junior career

Hire is a product of the Wanneroo Wolves and came through the State Basketball League before moving to the United States for a successful college career, firstly at Miles Community College, and then Augusta State University where he graduated from in 2010. He helped Augusta State win the Peach Belt regular season championship and the Peach Belt tournament in 2009, and then in 2010 again led them to the Peach Belt East Division regular season championship as well as the Peach Belt tournament semi-finals. He was also part of the Augusta State team that advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four in 2009 and then the Elite Eight in 2010.

Hire represented Western Australia at both the under-18 and under-20 national championships and was named the SBL Most Improved Player with Wanneroo in 2006. He was a key member of the Wolves' team from 2009 to 2012, starring for the team in their championship winning season in 2011, a season in which he averaged 22.1 points, 17.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He took out the 2011 Grand Final MVP with 31 points and 28 rebounds in their win over the Perry Lakes Hawks.

2010–11 season

In August 2010, Hire signed with the Perth Wildcats as a development player for the 2010–11 NBL season. On 5 November 2010, he made his NBL debut, recording two personal fouls in just over two minutes of action in a 91–85 win over the Townsville Crocodiles. On 12 February 2011, he had a season-best game with 5 points and 6 rebounds against the Wollongong Hawks. He made 13 appearance for the Wildcats in 2010–11, averaging 1.3 points and 1.2 rebounds per game.

2011–12 season

In August 2011, Hire signed a full contract with Wildcats for the 2011–12 NBL season. During 2011–12, he made 31 appearances and averaged 2.7 points and 1.6 rebounds per game but stood up when it counted in pressure moments, especially during the finals.

2012–13 season

On 18 May 2012, Hire re-signed with the Wildcats for the 2012–13 NBL season. On 14 December 2012, he scored a then career-high 13 points in a loss to the Wollongong Hawks. On 8 January 2013, he recorded a career-high 14 rebounds in a 73–67 win over the Adelaide 36ers. On 28 March 2013, he recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 93–65 semi-final victory over the Wollongong Hawks. He appeared in all 32 games for the Wildcats in 2012–13, averaging 4.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists (all career-highs).

2013–14 season: First Championship

On 9 May 2013, Hire re-signed with the Wildcats on a three-year deal. On 21 February 2014, Hire played his 100th NBL game, recording 9 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist in an 87–75 win over the Melbourne Tigers. He went on to help the Wildcats win the 2014 NBL championship with a 2–1 Grand Final series win over the Adelaide 36ers. He appeared in all 33 games for the Wildcats in 2013–14, averaging 4.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.

2014–15 season: Injury-riddled season

On 14 October 2014, Hire was ruled out for six weeks after tearing his left calf muscle at training the day before. He returned to action on 16 January 2015 in a loss to the Adelaide 36ers, but was later ruled out of the Wildcats' crucial Game 2 semi-final clash against the Cairns Taipans. With Shawn Redhage also out, the Wildcats were swept 2–0 by the Taipans to bow out in their 29th straight NBL playoff appearance. He finished the 2014–15 season having played a career-low 11 games; he averaged 3.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

2015–16 season: Second Championship

Having played power forward in college and with Wanneroo, and back-up small forward for the majority of his Wildcats tenure, Hire shifted to a shooting guard role in 2015–16 after the Wildcats went with a bigger front court. With the addition of Nathan Jawai at centre, it moved Matthew Knight to power forward, Shawn Redhage to small forward, and Hire to shooting guard. Hire averaged 16 minutes per game over the Wildcats' first 10 games to begin the 2015–16 season, averaging a serviceable 4.3 points per game off the bench. During this stretch, he recorded a season-best game with 13 points and 11 rebounds against the Illawarra Hawks on October 25, recording two three-pointers on the game, including a clutch triple late in the fourth quarter to help the Wildcats to a 106–99 come-from-behind win. However, following this 10-game stretch, he averaged just under nine minutes per game over the next six games, dropping out of coach Trevor Gleeson's regular rotation. His minutes remained steady over the Wildcats' five-game road trip during December, a stretch that saw them drop from 11–5 to 13–8. In the team's first home game of 2016 on January 15, Hire grabbed his 500th career rebound, finishing the game with seven boards and helping the Wildcats snap a three-game losing streak with a 95–68 win over the Sydney Kings.

On January 25, with starting small forward Casey Prather out injured, Hire scored a career-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 3-of-4 from three-point range in an 84–74 win over the Cairns Taipans. He finished the regular season in good form, averaging 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game over the final five games, helping the Wildcats claim a spot in the post-season for a 30th straight season. Sitting in second spot with an 18–10 record, the Wildcats faced the Illawarra Hawks in the semi-finals, defeating them 80–68 in Game 1. Hire went on to play his 150th game for the Wildcats in Game 2 of the series, a game the Wildcats lost 104–87. With a Game 3 win over the Hawks, the Wildcats moved on to face the New Zealand Breakers in the Grand Final series, where for the first time, the Wildcats had home court advantage over the Breakers. They went on to defeat the Breakers 2–1 to claim their seventh NBL championship, winning their first ever playoff series over their arch rivals. Hire's minutes decreased throughout the playoffs, but with the grand final victory, he claimed his second NBL championship in three years. While his role and playing time were up and down in 2015–16, Hire still managed to appear in all 34 games for the Wildcats while averaging 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds in 12 minutes per game.

On 28 April 2016, Hire signed with the Joondalup Wolves for the rest of the 2016 State Basketball League season, returning to the Wolves for the first time since 2012. On June 17, he had a 34-point, 11-rebound performance in a 104–98 loss to the Willetton Tigers. Hire appeared in Game 1 of the Wolves' quarter-final series against the Stirling Senators but missed the rest of the playoffs with a right finger injury. The Wolves made it to the SBL Grand Final in 2016, but without Hire, they were defeated by the Cockburn Cougars.

2016–17 season: Third Championship

On 6 June 2016, Hire re-signed with the Wildcats on a two-year deal. Over the course of the 2016–17 season, Hire averaged roughly 15 minutes per game in a solid back-up swingman role, but over his first 23 games of the season, he managed just one double-digit scoring game. With the Wildcats coming into Round 18 in fifth place with a 12–12 record, Hire exploded in their game against the last-placed Brisbane Bullets on 3 February 2017. In just under 20 minutes off the bench, he scored a career-high 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting with five three-pointers in a 94–63 win. Coach Trevor Gleeson said of Hire after the game, "Last week I thought he might have had a bit of a breakout and I'm happy for him now because he's putting the work in. It was a great game from Greg and now the pressure's on him to keep doing it." The Wildcats went on to finish the regular season in third place with a 15–13 record and made it through to their 13th NBL Grand Final series. In the best-of-five grand final series, the Wildcats were successful in sweeping the Illawarra Hawks 3–0 to claim back-to-back championships, with Hire collecting his third title. In 32 games on the season, Hire averaged 3.3 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.

Personal

On 24 May 2014, Hire married long-time partner, Ainsleigh Sanders. Teammate Damian Martin was chosen by the couple as the marriage celebrant, while former Wildcats players Cameron Tovey and Brad Robbins were chosen as the groomsmen.

Hire is an ambassador for the Perth-based charity, "Youth Focus". The charity offers mental health support to young people. In December 2014, he started his own charity called "A Stitch in Time". Earlier in the year, Hire won a Pride of Australia medal after saving at least two young lives through his charity work.