Vickerman 300: An NBL coaching great

One of the greatest coaches of the modern NBL era will celebrate a huge milestone on Friday night, as Melbourne United’s Dean Vickerman chalks up his 300^th game as an NBL head coach.

Vickerman will become just the 15^th coach in NBL history to bring up the 300-game milestone, and he currently has a better winning percentage than all who have coached more games than him in the NBL, bar Brian Goorjian, who has won 553 of 803 games at 68.9 per cent.

Of Vickerman’s 299 games to date, he has won 188 for a 62.9 per cent winning record.

Dean Vickerman and Thomas Abercrombie at the Breakers in 2014.

While he’s now a mainstay of the Australian coaching ranks, and was even elevated to the post of Boomers coach for a pair of World Cup qualifiers last year, Vickerman has been some time to earn the opportunity to lead his own side.

After a playing career that saw him play 16 games across three seasons for the Melbourne Tigers, Vickerman held assistant coaching positions with the Tigers, Singapore Slingers and New Zealand Breakers between 2004 and 2013, before earning his first NBL head coaching role with the Breakers upon the departure of Andrej Lemanis.

Vickerman took over a championship winning roster that was in a state of flux, but earned a 92-73 win in his first game in charge in 2013.

However, the Breakers would go on to end the season outside the playoff spots.

Vickerman managed to coax Breakers legend Cedric Jackson back to the club ahead of the 2014-15 season and won his first title – and the Breakers’ fourth in five years – by overcoming Cairns in a two-game Championship Series.

Vickerman left the Breakers at the end of the 2016 season, and was named an assistant coach as the Sydney Kings under Andrew Gaze for the 2016-17 season, before returning to the NBL’s head coaching ranks with Melbourne United the following season.

Dean Vickerman and Andrew Gaze at the Sydney Kings in 2016.

Since replacing Dean Demopoulos at the helm, Vickerman has won two titles at Melbourne United (2018 and 2021) and has become synonymous with the club.

Under his tenure Melbourne has returned to its status as a powerhouse in the NBL, and has made the post-season in five of Vickerman’s six seasons in charge – including three finishes at the top of the regular season ladder.

United has also seen its status as a genuine pathway to the NBA grow under Vickerman’s tenure. Jack White and Jock Landale have each forged a path to the NBA under Vickerman, while Matthew Dellavedova returned to the NBA after one season in Melbourne.

Cleveland Cavaliers draftee Luke Travers and Ariel Hukporti also have placed their faith in Vickerman to help them reach their NBA targets.

Dean Vickerman’s NBL coaching career
2004-2006 – Melbourne Tigers (assistant)
2006-2007 – Singapore Slingers (assistant)
2007-2013 – New Zealand Breakers (assistant)
2013-2016 – New Zealand Breakers (head coach)
2016-2017 – Sydney Kings (assistant)
2017-present – Melbourne United (head coach)

Honour roll
3x NBL champion head coach (2015, 2018, 2021)
4x NBL champion assistant coach (2006, 2011, 2012, 2013)
2x NBL Coach of the Year (2018, 2019)

Vickerman and United take on the JackJumpers on Friday night in enemy territory from 7.30pm AEDT. Follow the live game on ESPN via Kayo from 7pm AEDT.