Mitch McCarron on What Went Wrong in Adelaide, United’s 2021 Championship & Overachieving in Cairns
August 17, 2026
Aaron Fearne
- Nationality: AUS
- Date of Birth: 30/05/74
- Place of Birth: Sydney (NSW)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 198
- Weight (KG): #N/A
- Junior Assoc:
- College: Wisconsin Technical College (1993-94) / Mid-State Technical College (1994-95) / Mayville State University (1995-97)
- NBL DEBUT: 30/10/99
- AGE AT DEBUT: 25
- LAST NBL GAME: 24/03/01
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 26
- NBL History: Cairns 2000-01
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Aaron Fearne was born in Sydney (NSW) but grew up in New Zealand. He would leave New Zealand at 17 to play high school and college basketball in the United States.
FAMILY: Fearne and his wife Amy have a son, Tyler and a daughter, Jasmine.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Aaron Fearne made his NBL debut with the Cairns Taipans at 25 years of age. He scored three points in his first game.
Aaron Fearne played two seasons with the Cairns Taipans. He averaged 3 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.6 assists in 38 NBL games.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | 26 | Cairns | 6-22 (9) | 25 | 238 | 49 | 31 | 10 | 11 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 29 | 18 | 41 | 44% | 5 | 10 | 50% | 8 | 11 | 73% | 53% | 50% | 8 |
| 1999-00 | 25 | Cairns | 2-26 (11) | 13 | 344 | 65 | 37 | 13 | 9 | 28 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 33 | 21 | 58 | 36% | 14 | 35 | 40% | 9 | 15 | 60% | 50% | 48% | 12 | Totals | 38 | 582 | 114 | 68 | 23 | 20 | 48 | 9 | 2 | 38 | 62 | 39 | 99 | 39.4% | 19 | 45 | 42.2% | 17 | 26 | 65.4% | 52% | 49% | 12 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | 26 | Cairns | 6-22 (9) | 25 | 9.5 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 44% | 0.2 | 0.4 | 50% | 0.3 | 0.4 | 73% | 53% | 50% | 8 |
| 1999-00 | 25 | Cairns | 2-26 (11) | 13 | 26.5 | 5.0 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 1.6 | 4.5 | 36% | 1.1 | 2.7 | 40% | 0.7 | 1.2 | 60% | 50% | 48% | 12 | Total | 38 | 15.3 | 3.0 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 39.4% | 0.0 | 42.2% | 0.5 | 1.2 | 65.4% | 52% | 49% | 12 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 12 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
Fearne was a part of the Cairns Marlins team that won the 2004 Queensland Basketball League (QBL) and Australian Basketball Association (ABA) Championships. The team was arguably the greatest team the Marlins ever fielded with Aron Baynes, Aaron Grabau, Nathan Jawai, Curt Ahwang and Kerry Williams all members of the team. The teams head coach was future Cairns Taipans CEO Mark Beecroft.
COLLEGE
Fearne played college basketball at Western Wisconsin Technical College during the 1993–94 season.
He then played the 1994–95 season at Mid-State Technical College where he earned a associate’s degree.
Fearne transferred to Mayville State University in Mayville, North Dakota where he played his final two seasons of college eligibility.
During his time at Mayville State, Fearne was part of the Comets program during a stretch that produced conference titles and multiple trips to the NAIA national tournament, with the 1995–96 team winning the NDCAC conference championship and returning to the NAIA national tournament for the first time since 1962 while finishing 15–10 overall and 10–2 in conference play.
Mayville State followed that with another title run in 1996–97, when the Comets won consecutive conference championships and consecutive trips to the NAIA national tournament for the first time in school history, finishing 18–11 overall and 9–3 in the NDCAC while receiving votes in national polls and ranking among the NAIA leaders in team defense and free-throw percentage.
After completing his playing eligibility, Fearne remained with the Mayville State program as a student coach in 1997–98, a season in which the Comets went 23–7 overall and 11–1 in conference, put together a 17-game winning streak, climbed as high as No. 3 in the national polls, and advanced to the elite eight of the NAIA national tournament.
Fearne graduated from Mayville State in 1997 with a degree in Business Administration, adding to the associate’s degree he earned at Mid-State Technical College during the 1994–95 season.
AWARDS
- As head coach: NBL Coach of the Year (2015)
- As head coach: 2× QBL champion (2007, 2009)
- As head coach: 2× QBL Coach of the Year (2006, 2007)
COACHING HISTORY
After completing his playing eligibility at Mayville State University, Fearne remained with the program as a student coach during the 1997/98 season.
After finishing his NBL playing career, Fearne joined the Cairns Taipans coaching staff and served as an assistant coach from 2001 to 2009. During that period he also created and coached the Cairns Taipans Academy, a junior development program that helped develop players including Aron Baynes and Nathan Jawai.
Fearne was also head coach of the Cairns Marlins in the Queensland Basketball League from 2006 to 2009. He was named QBL Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2007, led the Marlins to QBL championships in 2007 and 2009, and guided Cairns to the Australian Basketball Association National Championship in 2007.
Fearne was appointed head coach of the Cairns Taipans for the 2009/10 NBL season after the club survived its financial crisis and moved into community ownership. He went on to coach the Taipans for nine seasons and 264 games, taking Cairns to the playoffs three times.
In 2010/11, Fearne guided Cairns to a 16–12 regular-season record and the first Grand Final series in club history, where the Taipans were defeated by the New Zealand Breakers.
Cairns produced the best regular season in club history under Fearne in 2014/15, finishing first with a 21–7 record to claim the minor premiership. The Taipans returned to the Grand Final series and Fearne was named NBL Coach of the Year.
Fearne took Cairns back to the postseason in 2016/17 after a 15–13 regular season and second-place finish, with the Taipans reaching the semi-finals.
Following an 11–17 season in 2017/18, Cairns announced in March 2018 that Fearne would not be re-signed, ending a 19-season association with the Taipans as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
In 2018, Fearne joined the New Zealand Tall Blacks coaching staff in a support and technical consultant role for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, assisting head coach Paul Henare and his staff with scouting and preparation.
Fearne was also named head coach of New Zealand’s Under-17 men’s national team. At the 2019 FIBA Under-17 Oceania Championship he coached New Zealand to the silver medal, with the result qualifying the team for the 2020 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship.
He remained in New Zealand’s junior national-team pathway and was head coach of the Junior Tall Blacks in 2020. Basketball New Zealand also listed Fearne as head coach of its Under-19 boys development group later that year.
Fearne moved to the United States in 2018 to join Ron Sanchez’s staff at Charlotte as an assistant coach. He spent five seasons as an assistant from 2018/19 through 2022/23, including the 2022/23 season as associate head coach.
During the 2022/23 season, Charlotte finished 22–14, its most wins since 2000/01, and won the College Basketball Invitational for the first postseason tournament championship in program history.
After Sanchez left Charlotte in June 2023, Fearne was promoted to interim head coach for the 2023/24 season. Charlotte finished 19–12 overall and 13–5 in conference play, recording its first top-three conference finish since 2006. The 49ers also produced a program-record eight-game conference winning streak, tied the school record with 13 conference wins and 13 home wins, and defeated No. 17 Florida Atlantic for the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2013.
Fearne was named Charlotte’s permanent head coach on 12 February 2024 and was later selected as a finalist for the 2024 Joe B. Hall Coach of the Year award, recognising the top first-year head coach in NCAA Division I basketball.
Charlotte finished 11–22 in 2024/25 and 17–17 in 2025/26. Fearne’s three seasons as head coach ended in March 2026 with a 47–51 overall record.
In April 2026, Fearne joined new head coach John Groce’s staff at the College of Charleston as an assistant coach for the 2026/27 season.
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