History on their side: 36ers add Queensland greats

• The Adelaide 36ers announced the additions of Queensland's Kerry Williams and Luke Cann as assistant coaches for NBL26
• Williams enjoyed a long playing career for the Cairns Taipans before becoming an assistant coach with the club
• Cann was part of the Bullets coaching staff for the past two seasons under Justin Schueller

A rivalry filled with respect has been at the forefront of the relationship between Kerry Williams and Luke Cann ever since they battled it out for a junior state championship almost 20 years ago.

They've gone head-to-head at almost every level of basketball — as players in juniors, opponents at the state league level, as head coaches in the NBL1 North and as assistant coaches in the NBL during the 2024-25 season with Williams at the Cairns Taipans and Cann with the Brisbane Bullets.

Include a short stint as teammates in the Queensland under-20 state side in there as well.

But now, they are the under-the-radar recruits for the revamped Adelaide 36ers, who after the addition of superstar Bryce Cotton, appear set to contend for a championship for the first time since Joey Wright led the famous club to a Grand Final series against Melbourne United in 2018.

The 36ers last week announced Williams and Cann would join Mike Wells' coaching staff along with Serbian Marko Marinovic as assistants.

And while the pair have known each other for decades, their paths to South Australia have been almost polar opposites.

Williams makes the big move from his hometown of Cairns following a decorated career at the Taipans and the club's state-league affiliate, the Marlins, where he established himself as a fan favourite in Far North Queensland before later transitioning into the role as an NBL assistant.

He was believed to be the frontrunner to replace Adam Forde as Taipans coach, having two interviews for the position but the club chose to go in a different direction.

Williams said it wasn't an easy decision to move away from the place he loves but it was a necessary for his coaching career and his dream of being an NBL head coach.

"It was something I had sleepless nights thinking about, to walk away from my home and going to a big city and doing something different," Williams told basketball.com.au.

"I've been in Cairns my whole life, primary school, high school, my father's buried there, my grandparents are buried there.

"That's where my family, family clan and all that are from around the Cairns area, northern Cairns and south of Cairns and all that.

"So, I found it hard just with that decision.

"Then obviously the basketball side of it, Cairns Basketball and Cairns Taipans have been my life.

"I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've been given from the Taipans and Cairns but I thought it was just time for me to step away and do something and be uncomfortable and go and grow.

"Hopefully I can go back and take my experiences and help with the success of Cairns later down the track. I've got no ill feelings or anything towards Cairns.

"Adelaide was the perfect fit for me because, obviously learning from different coaches and being around different environments, that's how you grow and develop and get better at what you're doing."

Williams, who was in Melbourne as part of the Indigenous All-Stars game at the State Basketball Centre on Wednesday night, said he was still focused on one day becoming a head coach in the league.

"That's why Adelaide was a perfect situation for me. Learning from Mike Wells and Marko and the rest of the organisation," he said.

On the other hand, Cann spent almost a decade playing in the state league in Queensland before jumping into coaching at an early age, where he became the high performance manager in his home state, helping the notherners become perrenial gold medal contenders at national championships ,o go along with leading the Logan Thunder's NBL1 North men's team.

He then joined the Bullets coaching staff midway through the 2023-24 season but then felt the realities of professional sport when Brisbane chose not to renew his contract following last season.

"It's something there's no playbook for right, so, you just you talk to those around you that you trust and that have kind of been there done that and I got some really good support from some key people — some ex-coaches in the league and coaches overseas," Cann said.

"Just talking to a few people and I think the common trend that kind of stood out to me was that as long as you can walk away from a job knowing that you were yourself and you did everything you could to impact winning or impact the environment you're in, then something else will pop up.

"I kind of had to wrestle with that mindset a little bit and I had to kind of take myself out of the downs early and just remind myself that you know, everything happens for a reason and and things will work out."

And that's exactly what happened when the 36ers came calling.

"When this opportunity came and you weigh up all the pros and the cons and you talk to Mike (Wells) and Matt (Weston) and you understand where they're at as a club, I think it was more that I just had to trust in the process and that I'd be able to figure it out just because I felt like I'm at the level where I can impact winning," he said.

"When I had my opportunity to to show my worth to Mike and Matt, it was just about just being myself and just telling them what I'm about, what I value and what I'm passionate about and everything else kind of happened."

The task for Cann to chase his coaching dreams is made even harder by the fact he will miss his three daughters and wife Mikhaela, who will also be chasing her own dreams as a player during the summer.

"We've always said that when we when we have these types of opportunities whilst our kids are younger, it's important for us to show them that if you've got dreams that you should be able to chase it and there's going to be sacrifice in every decision you make in life," he added.

"The sacrifice that we're making is we're a little bit out of our comfort zone and my wife will be out of her comfort zone, I'll be out of mine and the kids will be out of theirs, but we believe that that's only going to add to the adventure as a family and them growing as young girls and females."

While both Williams and Cann followed different paths, they couldn't be more excited to take the next step on their coaching journey together.

"I've been around Luke a long time, so that's going to be fun and exciting to work with him and work next to him closely," Williams said.

"That's a big part of my move was, I wanted to learn from different people and I'm just right now in a space where I want to learn new things and working with Luke is part of that."

Cann said Williams was someone he had the utmost respect for.

"He's someone that I consider a lifelong friend. It's one of those things you understand that basketball is a small world and it's only going to help us going down there and helping Mike with his vision," he said.

"I think that's definitely something that he saw, I don't know if he knew the connection was so quite so strong, but I think once he started putting it together and going wait a minute, I could get both these guys and they've got experience in certain things and it's going to add value to to my staff and the players, then I think that was the cool part.

"We didn't really know to be honest until the very last moment. Like, Mike had mentioned it and I went 'oh crap, like this is actually going happen'. I rung Kerry straight away and I said you 'you doing this' and he said yes and I said I think I'm doing this too. It was a very cool moment and and really looking forward to going down there because he's a guy I respect immensely as a player, a person and a coach."

And as the duo both make sacrifices to join the rejuvenated 36ers, overcoming those challenges may have been made easier by the roster Adelaide are putting together, led by the five-time NBL MVP Cotton.

"Mike calls and said 'we signed Bryce', and straight away I was like 'damn'. It's very exciting and it's something I'm looking forward to, can't wait for the season to start, preseason to start and to get my head down and start working," Williams said.

Cann continues to coach new 36ers recruit Matt Kenyon with the Thunder in the NBL1 North.