NEWCASTLE'S rebuilding season received further recognition yesterday when Hunters men's and women's mentors, Darren Nichols and Larry Davidson, were announced as their respective Waratah Australian Basketball League coaches of the year.
This follows hot on the heels of Hunters swingman Nick Freer being named the WABL's Most Valuable Player. In another acknowledgment, Hunters players Katie Ebzery and Cheryl Wills will receive awards during the WABL finals at Broadmeadow on Saturday.
Nichols and Davidson, both stalwarts of Newcastle basketball, steered their teams to the play-offs after missing out last year.
Wooden spooners last year with a 2-16 win-loss record, the Hunters men improved to 12-8 to finish fourth but were eliminated by Sydney last Saturday in the first round of the play-offs.
"I'm very humbled by it. I feel I didn't do anything different than I did last year, but we got the results on the board this year," Nichols said.
"By receiving this, I'm getting the reward for all the hard work the team have put in, but I'd give it back in a heartbeat if we could play that game against Sydney again.
"I'm keen to go around again, and I'll do everything in my powers to get Nick Freer and [fellow American] Marcus Vanderheide back again."
The Hunters women missed the play-offs last year as their 7-11 record was only enough for seventh. They were fifth this year on 7-9 but were knocked out by Bankstown last Saturday.
"I was a bit surprised by this," Davidson said. "I thought we could have done better as a team throughout the year, but it's a credit the way the team was still able to perform as well as we did given the way the season was structured.
"Our biggest hurdle this year was the amount of breaks we had."
Davidson said he would also like to continue coaching next year and would make that decision after discussions with Newcastle Basketball general manager Ivan Spyrdz and the board.
"It's a just reward for the hard work they do behind the scenes that many people don't see, and long may it continue for Newcastle basketball," Spyrdz said.
Newcastle will be represented by the Youth League division two men, who play Parramatta in a semi-final at 9.30am on Saturday.
The Maitland Mustangs will fly the region's flag in the WABL. They play Sydney at 5pm on Saturday in the first of the two semi-finals.
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