Trevor Gleeson

Early life and career

Gleeson grew up in Warrnambool, Victoria as a member of a sports-mad family, with four older siblings who were all good in their chosen sports of football, basketball and swimming. As a child, Gleeson would sneak as close as he could to the Melbourne Tigers bench to get a better look at legendary coach Lindsay Gaze and his players during Warrnambool's annual Seaside Basketball tournament every Australia Day weekend. Gleeson was keen on basketball in his youth and was a member of Warrnambool's under 14 team which finished third at the Australian championships. In 1985, he graduated from Warrnambool's Emmanuel College.

Gleeson also played senior football at 16, only for his life to change inexorably two years later when his back was crushed by a hydraulic door at a Warrnambool abattoir. He subsequently spent six weeks in hospital. Gleeson said of that time, "I spent six weeks in hospital staring at the ceiling. That was pretty much my sporting career done. Sport was a huge part of my life and that was probably the hardest thing I've ever gone through." That accident was the coaching catalyst for Gleeson. In 1990 at just 22, Gleeson became the coach of the Warrnambool Mermaids in the Country Victorian Invitational Basketball League (CVIBL). In his first season as coach, he guided the Mermaids to the championship. In 1992, he was appointed Head Coach of the Warrnambool Seahawks, a position he held for two years. In 1993, he earned the role of Head Coach of the Victorian Basketball All Star Team.

Early years (1997–2006)

Moving to the Gold Coast to continue his studies, Gleeson coached the Griffith University men's basketball program and then moved his talents to Brisbane where got his first job as a coach in professional basketball with the Brisbane Bullets in 1997. He spent three years as an Assistant Coach with the Bullets until the coaching staff was sacked and, on a whim, he flew to Los Angeles, not knowing anyone. Working as many summer basketball camps as he could, Gleeson connected with coaches such as former NBA player Bob Thornton. It was Thornton who invited Gleeson to join him at the CBA's Quad City Thunder. After one season as an Assistant Coach with Quad City, Gleeson joined the Sioux Falls Skyforce and served as Paul Woolpert's assistant for the 2001/02 season. He parted ways with Sioux Falls following the season, but in January 2003 he returned to the Skyforce and took over the head coaching duties for the remainder of the 2002/03 season, replacing Stacey King. He retained his head coaching role for the 2003–04 season. In one and half seasons as Head Coach of the Skyforce, Gleeson registered a 30–33 record.

In 2004, Gleeson moved to South Korea and became an Assistant Coach at the Seoul Samsung Thunders of the Korean Basketball League. After one season with Seoul, he became an assistant at the Jeonju KCC Egis.

Townsville Crocodiles (2006–2011)

After six years away in the US and Korea, Gleeson returned to Australia in 2006 to coach the Townsville Crocodiles in the National Basketball League. Over his first three seasons at the helm, the Crocodiles finished the regular season in fifth place each year. They earned Quarter Final losses in 2007 and 2008 before earning a place in the Semi Finals in 2009 after defeating the Perth Wildcats in Perth in their Quarter Final match-up. The following two seasons saw the Crocodiles also earn Semi-Final defeats.

On 4 April 2011, Gleeson was named the winner of the Lindsay Gaze Trophy as the Coach of the Year for the 2010/11 season. Gleeson led his Townsville Crocodiles team to an impressive 17–11 record in 2010/11, which was the second-best win-loss ratio in the league. That is all the more remarkable as a pre-season poll of the NBL coaches didn't even tip the Crocs to finish in the top four. Gleeson inspired his team to the best home record in the NBL, as the Crocs lost just one of their 14 games at 'The Swamp' during the season. That equalled the club's most number of home wins in a regular season ever. He also engineered a Crocs defence that limited opponents to the second lowest number of points of any team in the NBL.

Melbourne Tigers (2011–2012)

On 28 April 2011, Gleeson was appointed Head Coach of the Melbourne Tigers, just six days after resigning from his position with the Crocodiles. The three-year deal was a dream move for Gleeson, but the circumstances of his exit from the Crocodiles were related to a personal matter. Gleeson's wife Dawn was battling breast cancer at the time and the couple decided to move home to Victoria so they could get more family support to care for their two toddlers. Gleeson said he had always planned to stay in basketball despite his wife's cancer battle and the Crocs had given their blessing to go for the job.

Gleeson worked tirelessly to assemble a team capable of winning the NBL title in 2011/12, something Gleeson desperately sought after five years of play-off exits with the Crocs. Due to the 2011 NBA lockout, the Tigers were able to pick up Patty Mills, while also acquiring Cairns Taipans trio Daniel Dillon, Ron Dorsey and Ayinde Ubaka. Things were looking good for the Tigers after opening the season with a 5–1 record. However, they went on to miss the playoffs in 2011/12 with an 11–17 record, a season derailed by Mills' defection to China early in the campaign and the sacking of Ubaka by former owner Seamus McPeake in January while Gleeson was conducting a post-match press conference.

On 7 May 2012, Gleeson was stood down with pay after coming under investigation by the club. On his first day back from annual leave, Gleeson, with two years remaining on his contract, suddenly faced an uncertain future when he was told by new club owner and chief executive Larry Kestelman to extend his break by an extra week while the investigation continued. Gleeson was chasing a payout of around $300,000, with his contract worth about $150,000 a season—it was understood at the time that the club had made a significantly lower offer, which Gleeson rejected. A month later, Gleeson was sacked by the club; the Tigers announced former great Chris Anstey as their new coach, ending weeks of speculation about Gleeson’s future.

Stint in the AFL

The departure from Melbourne – just one year into a three-year deal with the club – was the end of a tumultuous period for Gleeson, who had been supporting his wife through a successful battle with breast cancer. Gleeson was left emotionally drained and on the lookout for his next professional challenge. For a time he found that challenge elsewhere, working with the Australian Football League's North Melbourne and Hawthorn football clubs as a skills coach during 2012–13. It was an interesting change of scenery and, in many ways, a year of growth for Gleeson. Under masterful coach Alastair Clarkson, Hawthorn was on the precipice of a golden era of premiership success and it was there that Gleeson learned some of the key elements of his current coaching philosophy. He learnt the importance of core sporting-team principles such as empowering players to lead a team's culture and standards.

First Championship (2013–14)

In June 2013, Gleeson made his comeback to basketball after signing a three-year deal to be the Head Coach of the Perth Wildcats – the NBL's most successful franchise with five championships. In the months prior to joining the Wildcats, Gleeson was inches from turning his back on basketball for good. Feeling refreshed after his AFL stint, but unsure of his coaching future long-term, the chance to join the Wildcats in 2013 came at just the right time. Gleeson took over from coach Rob Beveridge, who had developed a winning-culture at the Wildcats (one championship and three grand finals in four years) behind a core group consisting of Shawn Redhage, Damian Martin, Jesse Wagstaff, Matthew Knight and Greg Hire.

For his first season at the Wildcats, Gleeson recruited two athletic American imports in Jermaine Beal and James Ennis. After winning the NBL's preseason tournament, the Wildcats went on to start the 2013/14 regular season with an 8–0 record. Their blistering start saw them take out the NBL's Player of the Month (Ennis) and Coach of the Month (Gleeson) awards for October. Gleeson went on to guide the Wildcats to the minor premiership with a 21–7 record, before guiding them through to the NBL Grand Final where they were victorious over the Adelaide 36ers. Their 2–1 grand final series victory saw the Wildcats claim their sixth NBL crown and their first since 2010.

Second Championship (2015–16)

After an injury-riddled season in 2014/15 saw the Wildcats earn a semi-final defeat, Gleeson was confident heading into the 2015/16 season that he had assembled the right blend of players, after conceding his side struggled with chemistry issues in 2014/15. A banged-up Perth was swept out of the playoffs in 2015 following a fourth-place finish which marked an underwhelming follow-up to its title-winning campaign in 2014. Gleeson made a conscious effort during the 2015 off-season to make sure that first and foremost, the chemistry is right. Following a large player turnover, the Wildcats were confident high-profile recruits Casey Prather and Nate Jawai – as well as back-up guard Jarrod Kenny – would be strong fits among the group dynamic.

The Wildcats were relatively injury-free in 2015/16 and finished the regular season in second place with an 18–10 record. By qualifying for the finals in 2016, the Wildcats set a record with their 30th straight season of playing in the playoffs. With Jawai's presence inside, Prather's athleticism, tough defence and ability to finish at the rim and Kenny being able support captain Damian Martin admirably, they provided improvement in crucial areas. Alongside the core of Martin, Redhage, Wagstaff, Knight, Hire, Jermaine Beal and Tom Jervis, Gleeson and the Wildcats were successful in going all the way in 2015/16 by reaching the NBL Grand Final and defeating the New Zealand Breakers 2–1.

Throughout the storied history in the NBL of the Perth Wildcats, one thing had never been accomplished until prior to the 2015/16 season – nobody until Trevor Gleeson had coached them to two Championships. Gleeson guided the Wildcats to their seventh NBL title and his second—the previous six had all been won by different coaches.

Third Championship (2016–17)

On 1 May 2016, Gleeson re-signed with the Wildcats on a three-year deal.

The 2016 off-season saw a lot of change in personnel, with three key players from the 2015/16 championship team moving on—Nate Jawai, Tom Jervis and Jermaine Beal. To replace them, Gleeson brought in Angus Brandt, Jameel McKay and Jaron Johnson, and headed into the 2016/17 season attempting to secure the club's first back-to-back championships since 1991.

The Wildcats started the season off strong with a 4–1 record, but things went south quickly after that. The Wildcats slumped to last spot in December with a 7–9 record as the club's injury toll started to bite—long-term injuries to Martin, Jarrod Kenny and Matt Knight hurt the Wildcats. Their recruiting was also put under the spotlight when they axed import Jaron Johnson in December for a second time—Johnson was first axed just three games into the season in order to bring in three-point specialist Andre Ingram. But when Ingram returned home after just a few days, citing mental issues, Johnson was reinstated. Johnson was then shown the door again in December as the Wildcats turned their attention to a new point guard.

The Wildcats were under siege when they slumped to the bottom of the ladder at Christmas. They then travelled to Wollongong for a must-win game against Illawarra on New Year's Eve without injured captain Damian Martin or a third import (after sacking Johnson). Amid the turmoil, Wildcats managing director Nick Marvin assured Gleeson his job was safe, with some calling for Gleeson to be sacked himself. Then, against the odds, the Wildcats beat the Hawks, signed Bryce Cotton and their season changed.

Gleeson said of the tumultuous times, "When we were going through that tough period I had a sit down with the board and said, 'this is my vision, can you back it?' To their credit they said, 'yes, we'll back it in' and that is when we made our move. We could've been sitting outside the finals and watching this game evolve."

Behind import duo Cotton and Prather, and with Gleeson's vision realised, the Wildcats won eight of their remaining twelve regular season games, including two must-win encounters in the final week to squeeze into the postseason. From there, the Wildcats rolled through the Finals undefeated to claim the title, an incredible achievement in what was arguably the closest season in NBL history. Not only did Perth extend their playoff streak into a record 31st straight season, but their 3–0 Grand Final sweep of the Illawarra Hawks saw them claim their eight NBL title. The Wildcats went back-to-back for the first time since 1990/1991, while Gleeson became the first coach to guide the Wildcats to back-to-back championships—Cal Bruton was coach in 1990, while Murray Arnold was coach in 1991.

National team duties

In June 2014, was rewarded for a championship-winning NBL season by earning a call-up to the Australian Boomers coaching staff for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Gleeson served as an assistant alongside head coach Andrej Lemanis as the national side aimed for a maiden medal at the tournament in Spain. He continued on as Lemanis' assistant in 2015 and 2016, as he was a part of the Boomers' 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship triumph as well as their Rio Olympics campaign—a campaign that saw the Boomers reach the bronze medal match.

Personal

Gleeson and his wife Dawn have two children, son Taj and daughter Shae. Gleeson met his wife while in the United States coaching the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Gleeson describes Dawn as a daily inspiration. While he and his family were living in Townsville, Gleeson urged Dawn to see a doctor after she discovered an unusual lump. A diagnosis of breast cancer followed. Dawn was cancer free for six years until in 2017, she was informed that her breast cancer had recurred. The experience not only inspired Gleeson to become an advocate for women's health, but also a Western Australian Ambassador for the Mother's Day Classic—an annual fun run and walk raising funds and awareness for breast cancer research.

In May 2016, Gleeson lost his brother in tragic circumstances during a family holiday.