THE Mount Gambier Pioneers have been the success story of Australian basketball for much of the last decade.
Under the tutelage of head coach Richard Hill they have reached heights other teams would envy.
Between 2013 and 2017 the side claimed five consecutive South East Australian Basketball League conference finals, along with three national titles.
They have also felt the brunt of enforced changes, which saw the former SEABL competition fold and be re-badged as the NBL1, without a spot for the Pioneers.
The side was eventually granted entry to the Basketball SA Premier League competition, rebuilt from just two remaining players and now sits top of the ladder heading into the playoffs.
Through it all has been Hill, with a star-studded lineup of players along the way.
Hill chalked up his 200th game for the club on Saturday night in front of a packed Icehouse, with an exciting contest the icing on the cake for the major milestone and a victory making it all a little bit sweeter.
However, Hill’s involvement in the South East sporting landscape goes much deeper, with a memorable Western Border football premiership flag for Millicent as coach back in 1984.
He also played football in the region for Port MacDonnell in 1979 and coached them to a premiership.
His coaching career began at 22 years of age and he coached the Demons at just 23, then headed back to Adelaide to continue to play league football for Sturt, where he had been part of the 1976 premiership side.
From there he returned to the South East to coach Millicent and spent four years with the Saints, where he has fond memories.
“The South East has been really good to me,” he said.
“Both my kids were born in Millicent.
“We won the premiership there which was their only one until last year.
“I do not get to go to Millicent much, but once a year I will go down to watch them play and catch up with a couple of mates.”
Hill did have some involvement with the Saints’ 2018 flag, although he downplayed the importance of it to the team.
“Clint Gallio rang me and asked me to speak to his team Thursday before the grand final,” Hill said.
“I tried to persuade him not to do that, but he insisted, so I spoke to the team.
“It probably had no impact at all on the players, but it had an impact on me.
“I felt I was part of it, even though I was not.
“It was a nice feeling – I enjoyed connecting with those boys then watching them win.”
Hill started coaching basketball at a high level with Sturt women, then spent two years with Eastern Mavericks men, where he won a championship.
He was involved with the state Under 20 side, before being appointed assistant coach for the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL.
But to those who attended the Icehouse Saturday night it was all about Hill’s success with the Pioneers.
The journey began when Hill saw an advertisement for a head coach for the team.
He made the call to president Tom Kosch and the rest is history.
“I had watched my son Brad play here a couple of times when he was at the AIS and thought Mount Gambier would be a great place to coach,” Hill said.
“It was only going to be short-term, but eight years later I am still here.”
That eight years has certainly been an impressive ride.
Hill said the first year the side won about eight games, but has not lost many since then.
In fact his success rate sits at around 73pc – an impressive figure for any coach.
When Hill arrived the Pioneers were in the doldrums, with little success, but that all changed in a relatively short time.
“I am tremendously proud of what we have achieved,” he said.
“Back then we would get 200-300 people to a game.
“The team had not won consistently for a while, but after the first year I saw the potential for the club to achieve great things.
“I believed in the community, the businesses, the supporters and the potential of the Pioneers.
“Fortunately both Neil Boase and Tom Kosch shared the same vision.”
Erik Burdon and Matt Sutton were already in place, with Hill having coached both previously.
He then set about creating a team he felt could taste success.
That included the likes of Brad Hill, Tom Daly, Ben Allen and a long list of others.
Allen is arguably one of the most influential players to the Pioneers’ success early in the recent period, with his buzzer-beating three-point bombs to reach two national championship playoff games two years in a row still a hot topic.
“How amazing is that,” Hill said.
“We may not be having this conversation if that did not happen.
“That was unbelievable the first time, then to think it happened the second time.
“The first time it got us into a championship game and we did not win, the second time it got us into the championship game and we did win the national final.
“Some of that is amazing and should never be forgotten.”
Likewise Burdon’s achievement of winning both an NBL and SEABL championship in the same calendar year had not previously been achieved.
“Craig Moller did that last year,” Hill said.
“That is the only other time it has happened.”
When asked about Saturday night’s presentation, Hill was typically low key.
“It was a bit uncomfortable to be honest,” he said.
“I do value it enormously and I think it is nice to recognise milestones.
“But I am extremely proud of what we as a team have been able to accomplish both on and off court.
“We have built a winning culture and there has been enough guys to help me transition that through a long period of time.
“The most important thing I did was bring good people to the town.
“We have also had some tremendous young local talent who have grown with the group.
“Kane deWit, Brad Rathjen and Lachie Hunter are performing at a high level in the Premier League and many other locals have been very important in the growth and development of the Pioneers.”
While Hill may be reluctant to state his individual importance to the Pioneers’ success, there are certainly plenty of supporters in the region who would agree he has been the catalyst for bringing the side from obscurity to one of the most successful clubs in the modern SEABL era.
