California-born Brian Goorjian leaves as head coach of Australian men’s basketball team

SYDNEY (AP) — California-born Brian Goorjian is leaving as head coach of the Australian men’s basketball team after four Olympics and two stints in charge of the Boomers.

Basketball Australia said in a statement Wednesday that Goorjian would continue his coaching career with the Sydney Kings in the National Basketball League.

In his first tenure as national coach from 2001 to 2008, Goorjian guided the Boomers to the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics, a World Cup in 2006 in Japan and a gold Commonwealth Games medal in Melbourne the same year.

Returning to the role in 2020, Goorjian led the Boomers to their historic first Olympic medal in Tokyo — a bronze — and then a fourth Games in Paris this year, where Australia lost in the quarterfinals in overtime to Serbia.

Andrew Gaze, a former Boomer, NBL and NBA player and Seton Hall star in U.S. college basketball, said Goorjian’s impact on the sport extended beyond his role as national coach.

“Brian’s legacy extends to players that have represented Australia even when he wasn’t coaching the national team, his legacy includes the development of the game as a player, a coach and an advocate,” Gaze said.

“It’s important to recognize his contribution to the Australian scene as a coach but I think that is only part of the complete story of Brian Goorjian and the significant impact he’s had on the overall game and the contribution he’s made to the lives of many.”

Luc Longley, an Australian and former Boomer who won three straight NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls, said Goorjian had the ability to remain current and connected across generations.

“He’s an American who learned to speak the Australian basketball language then went through several generations of change,” Longley said. “And now he’s the go-to-go guy who can communicate with a new generation of young Aussies playing in the NBA.”