High Performance

State Program

Basketball Victoria provides opportunities for athletes to represent Victoria, Victoria Country or Victoria Metropolitan in age groups from Under-16, Under-18 and Under-20 as well as our Ivor Burge (athletes with an intellectual disability) and Kevin Coombs Cup (wheelchair basketball) teams.

Athletes are nominated by Association Director of Coaching or Lead Coach and then selected from tryouts held yearly by Basketball Victoria’s High Performance staff to attend the Nationals Championships and represent their state against the best of Australia’s junior talent. Victorian teams have consistently shone at Australian Junior Championships, with a number of national championships won over the past 50 years.

High Performance Head Coaches

Our High Performance Head Coaches – Grant Wallace (State Head Coach), Jenna O'Hea (Victoria Metropolitan Women), Darren Best (Victoria Metropolitan Men), Zoe Carr (Victoria Country Women) and Nathan Cooper-Brown (Victoria Country Men) – work in coordination to provide Victorian athletes with the best possible coaching daily training environment.

They are charged with leading the coaching of the State Development Program, State Team Program and High Performance (Victorian National Performance Program) portfolio for identified Victorian athletes and coaches.

They will enable our elite players and coaches to successfully perform at a national and international level, with each Head Coach to prioritise the development of future Victorian Olympians, Paralympians and World Championship participants.

Grant Wallace

As the State Head Coach for Basketball Victoria, Grant Wallace is dedicated to finding, developing and educating the highest quality basketball athletes in Victoria.

A State representative player throughout the 1980’s, Grant progressed to compete in the NBL with North Melbourne Giants for three years before taking part in SEABL with North East Melbourne Arrows and Knox Raiders, winning a national championship with the Arrows in 2993.  

With an illustrious playing career behind him, Grant decided to pass on his knowledge and coach the next generation of Victorian stars. His journey has seen him coach over 550 SEABL and NBL1 games in the last 25 years for associations including Kilsyth, Frankston, Diamond Valley and Nunawading. His efforts in coaching these leagues have been awarded over the years, Grant receiving SEABL Conference Coach of the Year awards in 1999 and 2005 in the South, and 2010 in the East.  

Nationally, Grant has led Australian Development Camps with Basketball Australia and solidified his mastery on the Victorian coaching scene as Head Coach for the Under-18 Victorian State Men’s team from 1994-95, and the Under-20 team across 1992, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Grant has also coached internationally as a selected National Mentor Coach in 2018 for Papua New Guinea’s Junior Men, Assistant Coach for the Australian Under-17 Men’s team at the 2017 Oceania Championships in Guam and the Head Coach of International Tours to Germany and the USA.  

Grant’s voice as a player, coach and mentor in the basketball community is evident and unwavering. Recognition of this is clear with the 2012 award of Basketball Victoria’s Male Coach of the Year, the induction into Coburg Basketball Association’s Hall of Fame and Life Membership of Basketball Managers Inc., all connected to Grant Wallace’s name.

Zoe Carr

Zoe has found success as both a player and a coach within the Australian basketball community, shining from the get-go in Victorian basketball.

As someone who has experienced the Basketball Victoria pathway for herself, she today stands as Basketball Victoria’s High Performance Head Coach for Country Women.

As a junior player, she was a perennial presence in our state teams as a five-time gold medalist at the Australian Junior Championships. Zoe’s elite skills took her to Canberra after she earned an AIS scholarship. This allowed her to take her first professional steps in the WNBL where she would later go on to play 152 games in the league. 

Following her senior career as a player, Zoe switched her attention to coaching and flourished in several roles including Victoria Under-20 Women’s head Coach – winning multiple gold medals at Australian Junior Championships – as well as being the inaugural NBL1 Women’s Head Coach at the Knox Raiders. A Performance Level Accredited Coach, five-time State Assistant and Head Coach, three-time NBL1 Head Coach and current Under-17 Sapphires Assistant Coach, Zoe is a mentor who continues to thrive for the development of athletes on a daily basis.

Jenna O'Hea

Jenna O'Hea has joined Basketball Victoria with a wealth of experience in basketball, having travelled the world competing as well as representing Australia.

O'Hea is going to be a strong addition to the High Performance coaching staff, as she will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the team from her career on and off the court. She has travelled the world competing in the WNBA, Europe and then back home for the WNBL, whilst also being a part of multiple Olympic and World Cup teams as an Opal. 

Her professional experience of working with athletes as a Wellbeing and Engagement Officer at the AIS along with working with AFL Queensland as their Women's and Girls State Coordinator, along with her professional playing experience will be highly valuable to our High Performance program and its evolution. 

O'Hea understands what it is like to be selected in the Victorian pathways, as during her junior career she was selected six times to represent Victoria and then received a scholarship to attend the Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

Nathan Cooper-Brown

An established coach, both nationally and within Victoria, Nathan Cooper-Brown encourages his athletes to grow on a competitive, social and personal level by implementing an array of coaching strategies.

His personality and ability to lead, resulted in his appointment as Team Captain in the 2004-05 conference and his selection for the Most Inspirational Award. 

At a state level, Nathan is Basketball Victoria’s current High-Performance Coach for Country Men.  

As a Victorian development player in the 2000’s, Nathan took his talents to the Dominican University of California to compete in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 Conference Championships. His personality and ability to lead, resulted in his appointment as Team Captain in the 2004-05 conference and his selection for the Most Inspirational Award.  

A natural leader, Nathan has pursued coaching opportunities within various basketball leagues including NBL1 (formerly SEABL) with the Ballarat Miners and Southern Sabers, WNBL with Bendigo Spirit and NBL with Cairns Taipans. Working with state teams, he helped Victoria’s Under-16 Boys Country and Metro teams secure medals in 2012, 2014 and 2016 at the Australian Junior Championships, and has proceeded to head coach the Under-20 team. Furthermore, Nathan coached the Under-15 Australian Men’s side to a gold medal at the 2019 FIBA Oceania Championships. 

Darren Best

Driving an athlete-focused mentality as a coach and a mentor, Darren Best knows what it takes to get the most out of his players and teams. 

Darren Best joined Basketball Victoria in 2021 following a successful career working across Australia at Basketball Queensland and Basketball Tasmania before joining Casey Basketball Association as its Basketball Development Manager. 

Best played for Cranbourne and Melbourne Tigers in junior basketball before heading to the US and joining York College, where he was an All-Conference player. 

Darren played at the senior level for Melbourne Tigers and Bulleen Boomers in the ABA, as well as a number of years in the British Basketball League, where he named an MVP and to the Division 1 All Import Team.

As a coach Darren has travelled Australia enhancing associations and State Sporting Organisations across the country. He was Sunshine Coast Basketball Association’s Director of Coaching as well as coaching Queensland South U16 and U18 teams. He then shifted to Tasmania where he was appointed as Basketball Tasmania’s High Performance Coach and once again coached at the national level with Tasmania’s state team program.

Darren has been a valued member of the Victorian coaching community since his return from Tasmania to work for Casey Basketball Association. He has been appointed to Victorian State Team coaching staff over a number of years before joining Basketball Victoria, as both an Victoria Metropolitan assistant coach and was also appointed as our Victoria Metropolitan Under-18 Men’s head coach before taking this role. He was also extremely active in Basketball Victoria’s High Performance programs prior to his appointment. 

Darren’s coaching philosophy focuses on the player. Athlete-focused, coach-driven, administrator-supported and these elements will see improvement across the club, association and team. This gives coaches a chance to get the best out of the athletes to adopt growth mindset, while maintaining care for the athlete as well.

High Performance Hubs

With increased demand for elite basketball coaching and training in suburban and regional areas, the Victorian Government has partnered with Basketball Victoria to create seven High Performance Hubs established by a $5 million contribution in the 2019/20 Victorian Budget at Broadmeadows, Geelong, Werribee, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton and Traralgon. 

Basketball Victoria also independently established three hubs at the State Basketball Centre (Wantirna South), the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (Albert Park) and Casey Stadium (Cranbourne). In 2021, Montmorency was added as the 11th High Performance Hub.

Athletes at each Hub will be coached by Basketball Victoria appointed head coaches to develop the necessary skills to play in elite leagues around Australia, throughout the world and to earn scholarships to American collegiate basketball.

Players are selected to participate in the Basketball Victoria High Performance Hubs following selection in the State Development Program or the Victorian National Performance Program.