BASKETBALL
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hawks legend Chuck Harmison has been appointed acting general manager of high performance for Basketball Australia.
The former NBL general manager will be working closely with Australia's four senior national teams - the Boomers, Opals, Rollers and Gliders.
Harmison will fill the position for the next 10 months and hopes it becomes a long-term role.
"I'd like to think so, but a lot of water has to go under the bridge before that's determined," he said.
"The board will have a look at how I'm going and I'll assess how I feel about the role."
Harmison, a Hawks life member, suited up for the club for nine seasons from 1988-96 and is one of five players to have his jersey retired.
Still a Wollongong resident, he was general manager of the Hawks when they won the 2001 NBL title before leaving to work for the NBL in 2004.
When the NBL demerged with Basketball Australia in October, Harmison stayed with BA as general manager of leagues and competitions.
He is relishing his new high-performance role, which effectively re-unites him with former Hawks coach Brendan Joyce, now in charge of the Opals.
"I met with Brendan and [Boomers coach] Andrej [Lemanis] and met with the wheelchair coaches and [have] gone through budgets. It's exciting," Harmison said.
"I'm not going to get involved in telling Brendan and Andrej or any of the coaches who to pick on their teams.
"I let them know what my style's going to be. The position is not too dissimilar to being the GM of a club. You've got a coach who's responsible for the team and its success, and as the GM you give them parameters and a budget, and enough slack to make the right decisions to be successful.
"Having had that experience at club level, it put me in a good place to do this job."