Aaron Fearne was head coach of the Taipans for nine seasons and led the team to three postseason berths. Fearne was named the NBL Coach of the Year in 2015.

Prior to the 2018/19 season, the Taipans announced that Fearne would not return as head coach and shortly after he moved to the US to take up a role as an assistant coach at the University of Charlotte.

Aussie Hoopla's Dan Boyce spoke with 'Fearny' about the differences between college basketball and the NBL, his time with the Cairns Taipans, his year in the NBA with Nathan Jawai and his message for players or parents of players who want to make it onto an NCAA basketball team.

Topics include...

• Aaron Fearne updates us on how his transition to coaching in the US college system after 9 seasons as head coach of the Cairns Taipans (2:00)
• How the University of Charlotte is recruiting players in Australia and New Zealand (6:00)
• How Covid is still impacting college recruiting, even in 2022 (7:30)
• The major differences between coaching in the NBL and the NCAA (14:00)
• Advice for players or parents of players who want to make it onto a Division I college basketball team (18:00)
• Is there a way to know the best pathway to become a professional basketball player ie. college, AIS, NBL? (24:00)
• The year Aaron spent in the NBA with Nathan Jawai as his development coach (28:00)
• The key to creating a winning culture in a short period of time and how he was able to do that with the Cairns Taipans in the NBL (37:00)
• Aaron Farne's coaching website and how you can purchase his online coaching course (44:00)
• The biggest hurdles and rewarding moments having transitioned to college coaching (46:00)

Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms.

Listen to our previous interviews with the biggest stars in Australian Basketball, head to Aussiehoopla.com. Check out previous podcasts featuring; Australian Basketball Legends - Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, Leroy Loggins, David Andersen, Andrew Vlahov, Phil Smyth, CJ Bruton, Chris Anstey, Brett Maher, John Rillie, Tony Ronaldson, Damian Martin, AJ Ogilvy, Daniel Kickert

Current NBL Stars - Bryce Cotton, Chris Goulding, Vic Law, Jack White, Dejan Vasiljevic, Thomas Abercrombie, Jason Cadee, Mitch McCarron, Anthony Drmic, Brad Newley, Dusty Hannahs

Our Finest Coaching Minds - Brian Goorjian, Barry Barnes, Joey Wright, Adrian Hurley, Aaron Fearne, Rob Beveridge, Ian Stacker, Shawn Dennis, Dean Vickerman, Trevor Gleeson, Lindsey Gaze, Ken Cole, Will Weaver, Bruce Palmer

NBA Stars Past & Present - Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Stephen Jackson, Randy Livingston, Torrey Craig, Acie Earl, Josh Childress, Reggie Smith, Todd Lichti, Ryan Broekhoff, Doug Overton, Donald Sloan

The NBL's Greatest Imports - Darryl McDonald, Ricky Grace, Derek Rucker, Leon Trimmingham, Scott Fisher, Lanard Copeland, Mike Mitchell, Darnell Mee, Isaac Burton, Adonis Jordan, Shawn Redhage, Willie Farley, Al Green, Corey "Homicide" Williams, Andre Moore, Steve Woodberry, Gary Ervin, Ebi Ere, Doug Overton, Kevin Lisch

And the men who run things - Larry Kestelman, Mal Speed, Paul Maley, Vince Crivelli, Jeremy Loeliger, Chuck Harmison, Jeff Van Groningen, Bob Turner

All that and much more.

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