Brian Kerle

Brian Edward Kerle (born 29 August 1945) is an Australian former basketball player and coach. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1972 Summer Olympics. As a coach, he led the St. Kilda Pumas and the Brisbane Bullets to two championships each in the National Basketball League (NBL). In 2006, Kerle was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame (now part of the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame).

Brian Kerle

Personal information
Born	(1945-08-29) 29 August 1945 (age 79) Auchenflower, Queensland, Australia
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Career history
As player:
1967–1978	St. Kilda
As coach:
1977–1983	St. Kilda
1984–1992	Brisbane Bullets
1998–2000	Brisbane Bullets
Career highlights and awards
As player 2× Australian Club Champion (1972, 1975) As coach 4x NBL champion (1979, 1980, 1985, 1987) 2x NBL Coach of the Year (1984, 1990) NBL Hall of Fame (2006)

Playing career

Club career

A relatively late starter to basketball, Kerle began playing with Oxley in the lower levels of Brisbane basketball in 1965. He later moved to Lang Park in the A grade.^[1]

Kerle was recruited to the St Kilda Basketball Club from Brisbane in 1967.^[2][3][4]

International career

His first tournament for Australia was the 1970 FIBA World Championship in Yugoslavia.^[5]

Kerle was selected for the 1972 Summer Olympics.^[6]

Kerle played in the 1974 FIBA World Championship in Puerto Rico.^[7]

Coaching career

Kerle took charge of St. Kilda in 1977 while they were still in the Victorian league. He continued as coach as the team entered the NBL.^[1] He led the Pumas to back-to-back championships in 1979 and 1980.^[8][9] In 1981, despite finishing top of the table during the regular season, St Kilda was forced to withdraw from the NBL finals after accepting an invitation to play at the 1981 FIBA Club World Cup. In São Paulo, the Pumas finished eighth out of nine teams.^[10][11][12]

Kerle was sacked by St Kilda in 1983, having been involved with the club for 16 years.^[13]

In 1984, Kerle joined the Brisbane Bullets.^[14] Kerle was sacked after the 1992 season.^[15] He returned to the Bullets in 1998.^[16]

He is a four-time championship-winning coach in the National Basketball League (NBL).^[17][18]

Honours

National

• Two-time Australian Club Champion – 1972,^[19] 1975

NBL

• Four-time NBL champion – 1979, 1980, 1985, 1987
• Two-time NBL Coach of the Year – 1984, 1990

Halls of fame

• Basketball Victoria Wall of Fame – 1990^[20]
• NBL Hall of Fame – 2006
• QSport Hall of Fame – 2009
• Queensland Basketball Hall of Fame – 2018^[1]

Personal

• Australian Sports Medal: 2000^[21]

References

1. "Hall of Fame 2018 Inductees". Basketball Queensland. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
2. "[Basketballer Brian Kerle, 21, needed no more than a gentle hop to lay on this bird's eye view of the ball about to meet the basket]". The Age. 5 January 1967. p. 16. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
3. "6ft 7in centre". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 March 1968. p. 24. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
4. Nagy, Boti. "BK and LLL into BQ HoF, at long last". Basketball On The Internet. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
5. "Australia | 1970 World Championship for Men". FIBA. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
6. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Brian Kerle Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
7. "Australia | 1974 World Championship for Men". FIBA. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
8. "Last fling saves Pumas". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 June 1979. p. 25. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
9. Comerford, Damien (17 June 1980). "Pumas title in the basket". The Age. p. 33. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
10. Perkin, Corrie (15 July 1981). "Pumas score for our basketball". The Age. p. 34. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
11. Turner, David (15 July 1981). "Pumas score for our basketball". The Age. p. 34. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
12. "Standings". National Basketball League. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
13. "Kerle may go interstate". The Age. 13 July 1983. p. 25. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
14. "Kerle off to Brisbane". The Age. 17 August 1983. p. 24. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
15. Kogoy, Peter (15 November 1992). "Kerle rebounds". The Sun-Herald. p. 98.
16. Howell, Stephen (1 February 1998). "Kerle back in style". The Sunday Age. p. 8.
17. "Goorjian nears NBL record" (Press release). Basketball Australia. 18 January 2007. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
18. Heming, Wayne (28 January 2015). "From the heart: Brian Kerle still has the music". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
19. "St Kilda now top team". The Canberra Times. Vol. 46, no. 13, 191. Australian Capital Territory. 1 August 1972. p. 17. Retrieved 30 January 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
20. "Wall Of Fame". Basketball Victoria. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
21. "Australian Sports Medal entry for Mr Brian Kerle". Australian Honours Database. Canberra, Australia: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 13 September 2000. Retrieved 30 January 2001. Past Olympian and Australian Representative, Coaching

External links

• Brian Kerle at FIBA Archive
• Brian Kerle – Basketball-Reference.com international player profile
• Brian Kerle at Olympedia
• Brian Kerle at the Australian Olympic Committee