Stojkovic said Lacey was their “number one choice” for head coach as he had a “wealth of experience” and a successful track record, including at Takapuna’s Rosmini College, where he led the team to national championships over the past eight years.
Many of Lacey’s junior players had gone on to excel in college basketball in the US and professionally, he said.
“Matt will coach the Whai national league team as well as develop pathway programmes for up-and-coming local players.”
He said the Whai men’s team will make Mercury Baypark their base for all 10 home games when the NBL season begins in late March.
Stojkovic said the league started in 1992.
He said it had been a difficult journey for Whai to achieve the NBL licence. Under the NBL’s salary cap, they were able to offer one-year contracts to up to 10 players, including three overseas imports, but could not sign any players until next month.
“It’s quite an achievement as we are the only club in the North Island that has an NBL team and the Tauihi women’s team, and combined with our Whai Academy, that gives us a unique opportunity to help develop local talent. We provide equal opportunities for both genders,” Stojkovic told the Bay of Plenty Times.
Stojkovic said he wanted to pay tribute to Whai Basketball co-founder John Miller, who was “instrumental in making this happen”.
“Without him, we wouldn’t be here. John and the other co-founders have invested tremendous resources to get us to this point,” he said.
Stojkovic said the NBL season was only four months and most NBL coaches were only employed for that period of time.
“We want Matt to be here coaching and developing players year-round. We want to create pathways for up-and-coming players and we see the NBL as a good stepping stone on that journey.”
In a written statement, Lacey said the opportunity to be involved with the Whai Basketball franchise was “hugely exciting”.
“To lead the Whai in the Sal’s NBL as well as help drive the Whai Academy and other youth development programmes Whai has planned is an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.
“After learning more about the ownership group and Alex’s vision for basketball in the Bay of Plenty, I have no doubt the Whai NBL team is going to have a huge impact on the growth and development of basketball in the region,” he said.
Miller, his wife Lorraine and two other families established the Whai Basketball franchise in 2021.
An excited Miller told the Bay of Plenty Times Lacey was the “obvious choice” as head coach.
He said the search to recruit the right players had started including looking in America, Australia and Europe, as well as in the Philippines and Indonesia where the growth of the sport had “gone crazy”, since the 2023 Fiba World Cup.
“We plan to run some open trials for local players in the region and we are also looking for five development players,” he said.
Miller said having both an elite men’s team and elite women’s players train and compete in Tauranga would help raise the regional profile of the sport and inspire young players wanting to pursue basketball professionally.
The word “whai” holds cultural significance, too - meaning stingray. In Māori mythology, whai are guardians of areas where shellfish can be harvested - the whai is an integral part of Tauranga Moana’s history.
Sport Bay of Plenty’s general manager of community sport and recreation Nick Chambers said “it was great” to see further development pathways emerging with the expansion of the Whai Basketball franchise.
Bay of Plenty Times’ publisher NZME is a trusted partner of Whai Basketball.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post and has been a journalist for 24 years.
