The RMIT Big V Redbacks are one step closer to finalising the line-up for 2020 following the appointment of the senior coaches of the men’s and newly launched women’s programs.
Jeff Sparrow will take the reins of the men’s program while Gary Jones will mark his name in the history books as the RMIT Big V Women’s side inaugural coach.
The Pennsylvanian-born coach has had a career that includes a stint as skill development and assistant coach at Reading, Red Land and Pope John Paul II High Schools as well as pioneering the international basketball skill development business Point Blank Period, which specialises in defensive development, in 2014. Sparrow says he is eager to begin work with the playing group, who finished eighth with 11 wins in their first season as Texan recruit Steve Coffey stamped the potential of the playing group by finishing in the Division 2 All-Star.
“I’m really excited by the opportunity to grow with the group,” declares the new coach.
“I really like the vision of the people involved.”
Jones has been coaching basketball for over twenty years. He has signed onto RMIT after five years at the Sherbrooke Suns as Head Coach of their Youth League Girls and Big V Division 2 Women’s side.
“I’m excited by the challenge of establishing a new team,” says Jones ahead of his first pre-season.
“Our priority is to earn respect from our opponents and to establish a culture of friendship alongside competitiveness and player development.”
With the success of RMIT’s Women’s Football Academy as the blueprint, both Big V programs will incorporate sports medical therapy practices staffed by RMIT student interns in 2020.
Pre-season training for both sides will begin in mid-November.
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