Aaron C. Fearne (born May 30, 1974) is an Australian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Charlotte 49ers men's team of the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

. He served as the head coach of the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The S ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) from 2009 to 2018.

Playing career

Fearne played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

in the United States. He played for Western Wisconsin Technical College during the 1993–94 season and

Mid-State Technical College Mid-State Technical College (Mid-State) is a public technical college in central Wisconsin with major campuses in Adams, Marshfield, Stevens Point, and Wisconsin Rapids. It is part of the Wisconsin Technical College System. The college is a ...

during the 1994–95 season. Fearne played his final two seasons at

Mayville State University Mayville State University (MSU or MaSU) is a public university in Mayville, North Dakota, United States. It is part of the North Dakota University System. History Founded as a normal school by provision of the North Dakota Constitution in 1 ...

from 1995 to 1997. He served as a student coach for the team during the 1997–98 season. Fearne played for the

Cairns Marlins The Cairns Marlins are an Australian basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Marlins compete in the men's NBL1 North and play their home games at Early Settler Stadium. The team is affiliated with Cairns Basketball Inc. (CBI), the major ...

from 1998 to 2005. He played for the Cairns Taipans of the NBL as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

from 1999 to 2001 where he averaged 3.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 38 games.

Coaching career

Fearne served as an assistant coach for the Taipans from 2001 to 2009. He was the head coach of the Marlins of the

Queensland Basketball League NBL1 North, formerly the Queensland Basketball League (QBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Queensland and Northern Territory, Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Queensland partnered wit ...

(QBL) from 2006 to 2009. He led the team to QBL championships in 2007 and 2009. Fearne was named the QBL Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2007. Fearne was head coach of the Taipans for nine seasons and led the team to three postseason berths. Fearne was named as the

NBL Coach of the Year The National Basketball League Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1980 NBL season to the best head coach of the regular season. As of the 2023–24 season, the head coach, assistant coach and c ...

in 2015. On 3 March 2018, the Taipans announced that Fearne would not return as head coach. On 1 August 2018, Fearne joined the

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the Nati ...

as an assistant coach. After head coach

Ron Sanchez Ron Sanchez is a college basketball coach who most recently served as the interim head coach for the Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team. He was appointed interim head coach in October 2024 following Tony Bennett's surprise retirement. He ...

left Charlotte in June 2023 to become the top assistant to

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, Fearne was named interim head coach on 7 June, with his appointment for the entire 2023–24 season becoming official on 15 June. On 12 February 2024, Charlotte removed the interim tag from Fearne, naming him the program’s permanent head coach after leading the 49ers to a 15-8 start and 9-2 mark in The American.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Fearne was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. He is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fearne, Aaron 1974 births Living people Australian expatriate basketball people in the United States Australian men's basketball coaches Australian men's basketball players Basketball players from Sydney Cairns Taipans coaches Cairns Taipans players Charlotte 49ers men's basketball coaches Forwards (basketball) Mayville State Comets men's basketball players Sportsmen from New South Wales