CJ Bruton is currently building his first NBL roster as an NBL head coach, and he joins Dan Boyce on the Aussie Hoopla podcast to talk through his process and how he's managed to land some big names like Robert Franks and Antonious Cleveland.

 Bruton took over as the team's head coach just prior to last season's tip-off, with the roster having already been finalized by former 36ers GM Jeff Van Groningen and Coach Connor Henry.

Bruton, a six-time NBL championship winner as a player, joined Adelaide after a stint as an assistant coach at the Brisbane Bullets.

Prior to that, he played 17 seasons in the national league, winning 6 NBL championships as well as being a dual Olympian, playing for the Boomers 104 times.

He was part of Australia's gold-medal winning Commonwealth Games team at the 2006 Melbourne Games and was an assistant coach for the Boomers when they also won Commonwealth gold in 2018 on the Gold Coast.

Topics include...

• The day-to-day grind of CJ's first time recruiting as an NBL head coach (2:00)
• How the 36ers were able to sign both big-name free agent targets Robert Franks and Antonius Cleveland (8:00)
• Background on Kai Sotto's decision to enter the NBA draft early and his return to Adelaide for 2022-23 (11:00)
• CJ Bruton's thoughts on the Next Stars program and whether Adelaide will sign a Next Stars player for this season (15:00)
• CJ's attempt at bringing Scoot Henderson, the projected #1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft (17:00)
• How close are the 36ers to signing some of the big names linked to them right now ie. Scotty Hopson, Cam Bairstow, Travis Trice (19:00)
• What went wrong during the 36ers' 2021-22 season (27:00)
• The biggest learning moment from last season and what changes CJ has implemented as a result (38:00)

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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

Current NBL Stars - Bryce Cotton, Chris Goulding, Jack White, Dejan Vasiljevic, Thomas Abercrombie, Jason Cadee, Mitch McCarron, Anthony Drmic, Brad Newley, Kai Sotto, Luke Travers

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

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, Steve Woodberry, Doug Overton, Kevin Lisch

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

All that and much more.

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