FORMER Ballarat Miners coach Mark Leader will coach Geelong in the Australian Basketball Association east conference next season.
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The National Basketball League great returns to coaching after having this year off.
Leader, 41, is not new to Geelong.
He spent two seasons as a player with the Supercats in the NBL in 1986-87.
Leader, who will continue to live at Buninyong and commute to Geelong, is eager to get back into coaching after four seasons at the helm of the Miners from 1997.
"I feel fresh," he said.
It was the first year he had spent out of the game since he was about six.
He plans to put much of what he learnt with the Miners into practice at Geelong.
"I picked up a lot, particularly in player management."
Leader said he had enquired about a couple of coaching positions, but it was not until Geelong approached him that he began seriously thinking about it.
He said his family loved Buninyong and the Geelong position offered an ideal scenario.
He takes over from Terry Kealey, who remains Geelong general manager.
Leader is busily recruiting already, with east conference most valuable player Kevin Daley being the Supercats' only import.
Leader played 326 NBL games, including two championship titles with North Melbourne from 1988 to 1994.
He was also named an NBL all-star.