The Long Island Nets announced Tuesday that Adam Caporn, head coach of the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence and assistant coach with the Australian Boomers Adam Caporn as its new head coach. The Long Island Nets are the NBA G League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets.
Caporn joins the Nets after spending the last seven seasons (2014-21) as head coach of Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence, the country’s leading player development program. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Australian National Team, a position he has held since 2017, and will help lead the Boomers in the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games. Prior to that, he coached for four years at his alma mater Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Adam and his family to Long Island,” said Long Island Nets General Manager Matt Riccardi.
“Adam’s accomplished record of developing players and driving culture on the international, professional and amateur levels has prepared him well to lead the Long Island Nets. We look forward to seeing how his extensive knowledge of the game and focus on individual development will shape the team’s promising talent on and off the court.”
Caporn, who will become the fifth head coach in franchise history, also played a number of seasons in the NBL with the Wollongong Hawks and Perth Wildcats.
As a player Caporn developed his game through the Australian Institute of Sport and went on to play college basketball with Saint Mary’s of California. Caporn was the first Australian to be recruited by the program and opened the Aussie pipeline to Saint Mary’s which led to Daniel Kickert, Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova and Jock Landale all playing for the Gaels.
Congratulations to former Perth Wildcat Adam Caporn on being named Head Coach of the @LongIslandNets in the NBA G League! 👏
The WA local played 55 games with the Wildcats! https://t.co/9IcA2Iirzk pic.twitter.com/h3HU061Axr
— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) July 7, 2021
Caporn is well respected in Australian basketball circles and will no doubt expand that internationally once he makes his G-League coaching debut. Having already helped with the development of NBA stars like Mills, Dellevedova and future draft pick Josh Giddey he is in a prime position to coach in the G-League to help future NBA stars achieve their dreams.
Click to listen to Adam Caporn on the Aussie Hoopla podcast
The Long Island Nets are the former G-League team coached by Will Weaver which also helped Boomers forward Mitch Creek springboard into the NBA in 2019. Caporn’s appointment may see an increase of Australian talent look to reach the NBA via the Long Island program.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
