COLLEGE

Palmer played college basketball at the University of the Pacific, As a freshman he was a guard on Stan Morrison’s 1973-74 team in the Pacific Coast Athletic Association and played 22 games for a Tigers side that finished 14-12 overall and 4-8 in conference play, tied for fifth.

In 1973-74 he averaged 2.0 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, while shooting 37.0 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from the foul line.

As a sophomore in 1974-75, Palmer played 24 games for Pacific as the Tigers went 12-14 overall and 3-7 in PCAA play, finishing sixth under Morrison.

He averaged 2.1 points and 1.8 rebounds per game that season, scoring 50 total points with 43 total rebounds, while making 20 field goals on 67 attempts for 29.9 percent and 10 free throws on 15 attempts for 66.7 percent.

Pacific again played in the PCAA in 1975-76, and Palmer’s junior season came on a 14-14 team that finished 4-6 in conference play and tied for fifth with Morrison still as head coach.

He appeared in 28 games in 1975-76 and averaged 3.2 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

As a senior in 1976-77, Palmer remained at guard for Pacific and helped the Tigers to an 11-14 overall record and a 5-7 mark in the PCAA, tied for fifth under Morrison.

He averaged a college-best 5.6 points per game with 2.3 rebounds per game in his final season.

Across his four Pacific seasons from 1973-74 through 1976-77, Palmer played 88 games and averaged 3.0 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

Over his college career he shot 38.6 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from the free-throw line. Palmer played in the same Pacific era as Al Westover, and he graduated from the University of the Pacific in 1977 before moving on to Australia later that year.

COACHING HISTORY

Palmer coached the Dandenong Rangers in the Victorian Basketball Association, taking the club to a 13–13 record in 1984 before a major rise to a 25–3 finish and a semi-final appearance in 1985.

In 1986, Coaching Dandenong to the championship in 1986. Palmer guided the Rangers to a 17–1 record and the Victorian Basketball Association title before moving on to higher-level coaching the next year.

Palmer began coaching in the NBL in 1987 with the North Melbourne Giants, after coaching the Dandenong Rangers to the 1986 VBA championship.

In 1988 he was awarded NBL Coach of the Year though the Giants would lose the NBL Grand Final series to the Canberra Cannons.

The following year, Giant Scott Fisher was named the League Most Valuable Player and the Giants won the Championship over the Cannons in a reversal of the previous years series.

Palmer moved to the Brisbane Bullets in 1993, although he was unsuccessful in bringing the team the level of success he saw with the Giants.

He left the team after three seasons and took a break from coaching in the NBL, during which he coached representative youth basketball.

In 1998, he worked as an assistant coach with the Brisbane Bullets under head coach Brian Kerle.

Palmer took on the role of head coach with expansion team Hunter Pirates in 2003. Palmer was then controversially fired partway into the season and replaced by his assitant Dave Simmons.