Chris Harriman played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Sydney Kings and the Hunter Pirates, finishing runner-up in the 2004 rookie of the year award, before taking up an opportunity to coach college basketball.
Since then, he’s coached at some of the top college basketball programs, including Saint Louis, Nebraska, New Mexico and the University of Cal (Berkley), where he is an assistant coach to Mark Fox.
While few may be aware of who Harriman is, many are familiar with his work. During his almost 20 years coaching in the US, he’s helped develop some of the NBL’s best talent, including Kevin Lisch, Keanu Pinder, Brian Conklin, Tim Coenraad, Rob Loe and Jack McVeigh, amongst many others.
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Harriman joins host Dan Boyce on the show to discuss a myriad of topics, ranging from the current state of college basketball, thoughts on the Australian basketball system compared to the USA, how the NBL hurt young basketball talent with the points system during the 2000s and advice for anyone hoping to play or coach in the US college system.
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Podcast topics include;
- The role of an assistant coach in the US college system and how it compares to being an assistant coach in the NBL (2:00)
- His time with the Sydney Kings during the 98/99 season (5:30)
- Remembering the talent of former Kings import Acie Earl (8:30)
- Playing division II college basketball with Augusta State and its Aussie pipeline during the early 2000s (9:30)
- His return to the NBL after college and a season with the Hunter Pirates (11:00)
- How the NBL points system hurt the development of Australian talent, especially point guards (14:00)
- Developing some of the NBL’s best talent, a list that includes Keanu Pinder, Kevin Lisch, Tim Coenraad, Brian Conklin, Jack McVeigh and many more (18:30)
- How US colleges view Aussie players right now (20:00)
- What Aussie players need to know if they want to play college basketball (22:00)
- How college basketball has dramatically changed since Covid (25:00)
- How things have changed now college players are ‘getting paid’, and top players are now generating ‘six figures’ (27:00)
- Lessons learnt from Rick Majerus and other coaches (30:00)
- What Aussie coaches need to know if they want to become a college basketball coach (34:00)
- Thoughts on coaching in the NBL (35:00)
- The biggest hurdles and the highlights faced during his basketball journey (40:00)