The Ballarat Miners have confirmed Eric Hayes will coach the team for a third season in the South East Australian Basketball League. Hayes has been a part of the senior Miners program for the past four years. In his first two years he worked as an assistant to David Flint before taking on the reins in 2015. In Hayes’ two years as head coach he has a winning percentage of 50. His first year as head coach Hayes took the Miners to the finals where they were knocked out by Dandenong. In his second year the Miners narrowly missed the finals – falling one game short. Hayes was excited by the prospect of returning the side to finals basketball and would now turn his attention to bringing players to the club in order to return to the big stage.