Mark Leader (1960–2023) was an American-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 ...

player and coach. He 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 ...

for Western Oregon University before moving to Australia where he played 12 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1983 and 1995. He then continued in Australia as a coach. Leader was a two-time NBL champion as a player and won multiple championships as a coach at the state league level.

Early life

Leader was born in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

but grew up in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

College career

Leader attended Western Oregon University between 1980 and 1982. He was the team leader in assists in 1981–82 with 102.

Professional career

Leader moved to Australia in 1982 to play for the Ulverstone Redhoppers in the North West Basketball Union in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. He made his National Basketball League (NBL) debut with the Devonport Warriors in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

and averaged 22.1 points and 10.5 rebounds in his first season. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

, he served as the Warriors' player/coach and had his best statistical season, averaging 28.7 points, 14.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.7 blocks. After the demise of the Warriors, Leader joined the West Adelaide Bearcats in the SA State League and was set to play for the Bearcats NBL team as well but after the team merged with the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in the state's capital of Adela ...

for the

1985 NBL season The 1985 NBL season was the seventh season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 14 teams contested the league. Regular season The 1985 regular season took place over 18 rounds between 12 April 1985 and 18 August 1985. Rou ...

, he missed out on a roster spot to Mark Davis. In 1986 and

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, Leader played for the Geelong Supercats in the NBL. He averaged 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds for the Supercats in 1987. In 1988, Leader joined the North Melbourne Giants and went on to win NBL championships in

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

before retiring following the 1995 season. He was captain of the Giants for their championship in 1994. Leader was the first player in NBL history to record four triple-doubles.

Coaching career

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, Leader served as assistant coach of the North Melbourne Giants under head coach Brett Brown. Between 1997 and 2000, Leader served as head coach of the

Ballarat Miners Ballarat Miners is a NBL1 South club based in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Ballarat Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organisat ...

in the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was a semi-professional basketball league in Australia comprising both a men's and women's competition. The SEABL began in 1981 and operated for 38 seasons until it was disbanded in 2018. The ...

(SEABL). Leader returned to the SEABL in 2002, as he coached the Geelong Supercats for eight seasons until 2009. He won three SEABL East championships in a row between 2005 and 2007, and in 2006 he guided the Supercats to the ABA National championship. In 2015 and 2016, Leader coached the Corio Bay Stingrays in the Big V, winning a

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in 2015.

Personal life

Leader became a naturalised Australian in 1987.

Death

Leader died of cancer in January 2023.

References

External links

Aussie Hoopla interview (April 2021)
on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leader, Mark 1960 births 2023 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball players Australian men's basketball players Basketball players from Idaho Basketball players from Oregon Geelong Supercats players Guards (basketball) North Melbourne Giants players Western Oregon Wolves men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Australian sportsmen