Aaron C. Fearne (born May 30, 1974)[1] is an Australian basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Charlotte 49ers men's team of the American Athletic Conference. He served as the head coach of the Cairns Taipans of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) from 2009 to 2018.
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head Coach |
| Team | Charlotte |
| Conference | The American |
| Record | 19–12 (.613) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | May 30, 1974[1] Sydney, New South Wales |
| Playing career | |
| 1993–1994 | Western Technical |
| 1994–1995 | Mid-State Technical |
| 1995–1997 | Mayville State |
| 1998–2005 | Cairns Marlins |
| 1999–2001 | Cairns Taipans |
| Position(s) | Forward |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2001–2009 | Cairns Taipans (assistant) |
| 2006–2009 | Cairns Marlins |
| 2009–2018 | Cairns Taipans |
| 2018–2023 | Charlotte (assistant) |
| 2023–present | Charlotte |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 19–12 (.613) (college) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| |
Playing career
editFearne played college basketball in the United States. He played for Western Wisconsin Technical College during the 1993–94 season and Mid-State Technical College during the 1994–95 season.[2] Fearne played his final two seasons at Mayville State University from 1995 to 1997. He served as a student coach for the team during the 1997–98 season.[3]
Fearne played for the Cairns Marlins from 1998 to 2005.[2] He played for the Cairns Taipans of the NBL as a forward from 1999 to 2001 where he averaged 3.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 38 games.[4]
Coaching career
editFearne served as an assistant coach for the Taipans from 2001 to 2009.[5] He was the head coach of the Marlins of the Queensland Basketball League (QBL) from 2006 to 2009.[2] He led the team to QBL championships in 2007 and 2009.[2] Fearne was named the QBL Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2007.[2]
Fearne was head coach of the Taipans for nine seasons and led the team to three postseason berths.[5] Fearne was named as the NBL Coach of the Year in 2015.[6] On 3 March 2018, the Taipans announced that Fearne would not return as head coach.[5]
On 1 August 2018, Fearne joined the Charlotte 49ers as an assistant coach.[7] After head coach Ron Sanchez left Charlotte in June 2023 to become the top assistant to Tony Bennett at Virginia,[8] Fearne was named interim head coach on 7 June,[9] with his appointment for the entire 2023–24 season becoming official on 15 June.[10]
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. [11]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte 49ers (American Athletic Conference) (2023–present) | |||||||||
| 2023–24 | Charlotte | 19–12 | 13–5 | 3rd | |||||
| Charlotte: | 19–12 (.613) | 13–5 (.722) | |||||||
| Total: | 19–12 (.613) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Personal life
editFearne was born in Sydney, New South Wales.[4] He is married and has two children.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "Aaron Fearne". coachesdatabase.com. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Aaron Fearne". UNC Charlotte Athletics. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Men's Basketball Team 1997–1998". MSU Comets. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Aaron Fearne". Aussie Hoopla. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ a b c Uluc, Olgun (3 March 2018). "Cairns Taipans elect not to re-sign head coach Aaron Fearne". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Cairns Taipans cut ties with coach Aaron Fearne". ESPN. 3 March 2018. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Former NBL coach joins US college outfit". Nine. 1 August 2018. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Sanchez Returning to Virginia as Associate Head Coach" (Press release). Virginia Cavaliers. 6 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "Fearne Named Charlotte's Interim Men's Basketball Coach" (Press release). Charlotte 49ers. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "Charlotte Tabs Aaron Fearne as Interim Head Coach for 2023-24" (Press release). Charlotte 49ers. 15 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "Aaron Fearne Named Charlotte's 14th Men's Basketball Head Coach" (Press release). Charlotte 49ers. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.