MURRAY LANDS ROCKS ROLE
- Updated: July 16, 2020
Glasgow Rocks have appointed Gareth Murray as player-coach on a two-year contract.
The Great Britain forward had emerged as the hot favourite to succeed Vincent Lavandier at the Emirates Arena.
And despite the 35-year-old’s prior hesitation about maintaining his playing career while also overseeing a team, he has accepted a role with the backing of a number of past and former team-mates.
“ I had always hoped and believed that one day I would become the Head Coach of the Glasgow Rocks, this opportunity came earlier than expected but I am ready,†he said.
“With the premature departure of Coach Lavandier and the current financial implications of COVID-19, I am now the Head Coach. I will also continue to play as well as building a team that can compete on the court. The budget will of course decide the quality and amount of players I can recruit, one thing for sure is we will play with passion and continue to improve.
“I have played for the Rocks for 12 seasons with 6 different coaches. In that time I have learned something from each one of the them, what we all have in common is a passion to create a great culture and environment for players to improve and grow as individuals and as a team.â€
On what will be a reduced budget, Murray will now have to rebuild a roster which came within reach of landing the club’s first-ever British Basketball League title in March before coronavirus rendered their quest null and void.
But a two-season show of faith will allow him the latitude to learn and develop, even if results are challenging.
“The appointment of Gareth on a 2 year contract brings much needed continuity and stability to the organisation at a time when calm heads and vision are required,†Rocks owner Duncan Smillie said.
“When I first met Gareth three years ago he made it clear to me that he saw himself as a future Rocks coach. In all honestly it has perhaps come a couple of years earlier than we both thought but he is has been preparing for this for a long time. As Rocks captain last season he learned a lot from our head coach, he has a first class understanding of the BBL and is a Rock through and through. I am really looking forward to working with Gareth and helping him where I can off the court.
“Now is the time to start building and planning for next season. I hope we will be playing basketball again at the Emirates in October/November, clearly we are not in control of that but we need to be ready to go when the advice from government allows for practice and games.â€
Elsewhere in the BBL, Sheffield Sharks re-signed former GB Under-20 guard Nicholas Lewis.
While Cheshire Phoenix have signed American point guard Kahron Ross from Albania’s Vllaznia Shkodra
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