Coenraad enjoys mixing study with sport

Tim Coenraad has been powering through a heavy workload - on and off the basketball court.

Preparing for life after basketball, the Illawarra Hawks forward has gone "back to school" after taking on the role of ambassador for the International Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Wollongong.

Coenraad is majoring in Sports and Human Movement and loves how the course allows him to maintain his commitments with the Hawks.

"It's a very flexible degree that incorporates a lot of different majors, so it's got a lot of variety," he said.

"It's pretty much designed for athletes and single parents and people who don't have a lot of time.

"For athletes like myself, it's great to be involved.

"Professional sports isn't a lifetime job and we need something after that, and this is the perfect gateway for us to do that."

The International Bachelor of Science degree is overseen by Marc in het Panthuis, the UOW associate dean of the Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health.

"Marc asked me to be the ambassador and I was more than happy to because I wanted to go back to school, and I was in the middle of applying when he spoke to me, so it fittted perfectly," Coenraad said.

"The way he's been working with my schedule and everything, I've been able to fit in playing and going to school as well.

"There's three and four-year courses and they've got an honours degree as well."

Juggling pre-season training and studies hasn't been a breeze, but Coenraad is serious about learning as much as he can.

"The subjects I'm doing are quite content-dense and there's a lot to learn real quick, but it's something I'm excited about and I enjoy studying," the 30-year-old said.

"This is a passion of mine. At the end of this I'm hoping to have my Sports and Human Movement degree and then move into a nutrition degree as well ...

"What's good about UOW is that lectures are all online, so if you miss a lecture you can go online and review it. That really helps if my basketball schedule is always changing.

"It is a large workload and I'm doing the best I can to manage it. I did well in my first semester with a significant workload and I was happy with that. I've increased the workload a little this semester and we'll see how things go."

Coenraad expects to graduate in 2017.

"The key word for this degree is flexibility. We work with athletes such as Tim Coenraad to facilitate sporting and academic aspirations," Professor Panthuis said.