Goorjian pens deal with Bay Area Dragons

Former Illawarra Hawks head coach Brian Goorjian announced on Thursday that he will be joining the Bay Area Dragons on a two-year contract.

The six-time NBL champion, who remains the Hawks' special advisor for basketball operations, will head coach the Philipines-based Dragons in the East Asia Super League - which also features teams from China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

"I am honoured to be appointed as the Bay Area Dragons’ head coach," Goorjian said.

"Being the first guest club in the Philippine Basketball Association in two decades while competing in the premier league in Asia, East Asia Super League, is an exciting prospect."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Introducing your Bay Area Dragons Head Coach — Brian Goorjian ? <br><br>Who’s hyped to see this man lead the squad? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BayAreaDragons?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BayAreaDragons</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AwakenTheBeasts?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AwakenTheBeasts</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EASL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EASL</a> <a href="https://t.co/DQ8q3n5Uno">pic.twitter.com/DQ8q3n5Uno</a></p>&mdash; East Asia Super League (@EASLofficial) <a href="https://twitter.com/EASLofficial/status/1524604026066665472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The 68-year-old's team will compete in the EASL in October as one of the representatives of Greater China.

Before then though, Goorjian will put his Australian Boomers coaching cap back on and help his team prepare for Asian World Cup qualification matches against China and Japan in Melbourne during June and July.

"The Boomers remain a priority for me and I look forward to working with the team as together we go for gold in Paris," Goorjian said.