Wollongong Hawks great Gordon McLeod is looming as the front runner for the club's vacant coaching position.
Several coaches with NBL experience are in line for the job - including McLeod, Eric Cooks, Phil Smyth, Rob Beveridge, Bruce Palmer, Brendan Joyce and Ian Stacker.
Cooks coached the Hawks for the past two seasons. Smyth won three titles with Adelaide and Joyce guided Wollongong to the 2001 championship.
Palmer steered North Melbourne to the 1989 crown, while Beveridge applied for the Hawks job two years ago before signing with the Sydney Spirit (formerly West Sydney Razorbacks).
Stacker was a Melbourne Tigers assistant coach last season after taking Townsville to the 2001 grand final series.
But while each candidate has solid credentials, McLeod (pictured) has emerged as the favourite to take Wollongong's reins.
A former standout Illawarra junior, McLeod was a starter in the first Hawks team in 1979 and a member of Australia's Olympic side in 1980. He joined the Sydney Supersonics in 1983 before rejoining the Hawks for four years from 1984.
After coaching the Australian junior men's team to a silver medal at the 1995 world championships, he was named West Sydney's inaugural coach in 1998, taking the club to the 2004 grand final series.
He stepped down at the end of the season before rejoining the NBL as coach of the Singapore Slingers in the club's 2007 debut, defying the odds to reach the play-offs.
McLeod, who coaches the Wellington Saints in the New Zealand national league, was an assistant coach with the Australian Boomers at the past two Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Last season he had his No 5 playing singlet retired by the Hawks alongside Chuck Harmison's.
McLeod would be a popular Hawks choice, with many fans and sponsors believing his ties to the club and impressive career make him the right man for the job.
The Hawks' place in next season's NewNBL is yet to be confirmed, but their application has met all the main requirements and the club is reportedly assured of a spot.
It is believed the Sydney Kings did not lodge a compliant bid, although applications have come from organisations representing the Hunter region, Wellington and Tasmania.
An announcement detailing which teams will comprise the restructured competition is expected next Tuesday.
The club is moving ahead with the belief it will be playing in 2009-10 and is close to naming a chief executive and finalising a six-member board of directors.
Long-standing Hawks captain and Save the Hawks campaign spokesman Mat Campbell said he would remove himself from any executive decision-making regarding players and coaches.
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