Is Joel Khalu the next NBL head coach in waiting?

• Joel Khalu is an assistant coach for the Illawarra Hawks and was part of their NBL championship last season
• He has won five state league titles in Queensland as a coach with the Mackay Meteors, two as an assistant and three as head coach
• Khalu was most recently an assistant coach for the Aussie Emus at the FIBA U19 Men's World Cup

Pacing up and down the sidelines, trying to find answers with his team down double digits against the Perth Wildcats and facing the prospect of two big losses at the pre-season Blitz, Illawarra Hawks assistant coach Joel Khalu got his first taste of what the pressure cooker of being a head coach in the NBL was like.

While it might have been "just the preseason" to some, it wasn't for the 44-year-old journeyman.

Khalu had built an immaculate reputation after winning three state league titles in Queensland as the head coach of the Mackay Meteors and helping the Hawks to last season's drought-breaking NBL championship.

He had also been the caretaker for the Hawks pre-season training with head coach Justin Tatum finishing his obligations in Indonesia, so for him taking the lead role at the Blitz was a chance to show the team was in safe hands, but to also show what many people around the NBL already think — that Khalu is a future NBL head coach.

Well, the Hawks responded. Battling their way back from a 14-point halftime deficit to have the fans at AIS Arena erupting as the defending champions beat the Wildcats to end the Blitz with a win and a boost in confidence.

"I really enjoyed being back in the hot seat having not head coached since the NBL1 National Finals almost a year earlier," Khalu told basketball.com.au.

"The second game, I remember at halftime, we hadn't had a great start and I went over to JT and said 'how do you want me to navigate these minutes with the guys, do you want me to balance it back out like we did in the first game' and he looked at me and said 'JK, do whatever it takes to win this one' and I was like thank you very much.

"It was fun being in that environment and coaching to win, I really enjoyed that. It was a good way to finish off the Blitz because I would have hated driving two and a half hours back to the 'Gong from Canberra with two L's under my arm."

Interestingly enough, it seemed like Khalu also got hit with two technical fouls in two games at the Blitz, sparking questions and banter from those who knew the experienced coach at the tournament. But that was something he was happy to throw some of his players under the bus for.

"The first night was Sam Froling, the second night I believe was Davo Hickey and I'm quite happy to throw those two under the bus," Khalu laughed.

"But it was funny, when I watched each game back and the tech fouls were called, the camera zoomed in on my face where I was also unhappy. So, you automatically assume that it was me. In my defence, it was some of the guys on the bench, which I had no problem with. There was obviously a lot of emotion, so I'll wear them and I'll pay the fines."

From Mackay to Illawarra

The comeback victory at the Blitz was an intense but successful finish to Khalu's brief time in charge of the Hawks but an experience he loved and wanted more of.

The Cairns product, who had his name tossed up for several coaching vacancies around the league during the offseason, said being at a club like Illawarra under the tutelage of Tatum was the perfect place for him to chase his dreams.

"The big thing that JT instils, not only in his players but the coaching staff and everyone involved, is just be authentic and be yourself," Khalu said.

"If you have that confidence in your ability, then in most in most situations, you tend to rise to the occasion and thrive. That's something for me where, when he brought me in, he was like, 'you just you coach the way you coach and that will help me'.

"It allowed me to grow and be that sounding board for him in a lot of instances. It makes it a whole lot easier because I feel like he and I connect on a lot of things, including a level in our understanding of the game, how to motivate people and the X's and O's side of things. So for me, he just gave me confidence.

"Obviously, this year has been another big step in that journey. JT was away for the preseason with coaching commitments overseas and he gave me the keys to run our preseason for the first five weeks, which then ultimately led into the Blitz and then again gave me the opportunity as the head coach in that environment.

"He's one of those guys that if you do the work, he certainly rewards you. We've seen that with the playing group as well, if you do what he wants you to do and you put in the work to make it happen, then there's always opportunities to grow.

"Hearing my name get thrown up with some of the possible candidates and landing spots for head coaching roles was pretty cool. It felt like vindication for me in terms of that, I'd arrived at that level as a coach and there was a belief amongst, different teams that I could come in and fill those head coach shoes.

"I was always under contract with the Hawks. So, I never really had any offseason aspirations of going elsewhere, I wanted to be loyal to the Hawks. They gave me the opportunity to get to the NBL stage, so I wanted to fulfil my contractual obligations with them. But certainly head coaching in the NBL is where I want to get to.

"JT knows that and we've had conversations, about those goals for me. He's helping me with mentoring, in terms of hopefully what comes down the road. I'd love to be a head coach of an NBL program but obviously, for me in the short term, it's all in on the Hawks and hoping we can go and get another championship this year."

Learning from Justin Tatum

Khalu landed at the Hawks after Tatum moved into the head coach position during the 2023-24 season.

It was an opportunity he had earned through the years he had dedicated to his craft through several roles, including leading the Australian Indigenous Basketball team, the Papua New Guinea national team, multiple Queensland state coaching gigs as well as first being an assistant coach, then a head coach and also a general manager for his beloved Meteors.

But becoming part of the NBL coaching fraternity was something the former Cairns Marlins state league guard thought may have passed him by.

"I always aspired to coach professionally at the highest levels, that was always something that drove me," Khalu said.

"Once I finished up my playing days, even towards the end of my playing career, I'd already transitioned into to coaching junior representative teams in Cairns, and so it wasn't really until making the move to Mackay initially as general manager, but then head coach after two years working with Grant Kruger, that's where I felt that coaching was something that I wanted to do full time.

"I was realistic though and was lucky enough to keep building my skill set. There's not many full-time coaching jobs in Australia. So I worked down the pathway of coaching NBL1 but I was also working full time as an administrator in the sport.

"The NBL dream for me, kind of subsided. It was something that I thought might not eventuate and I was good with that... I had a few mentors growing up that were in similar positions where they spoke about the coaching carousel. If you jump on the coaching carousel, once you're on there, you never know, a lot of times it can take you places all over the world and that's great but then sometimes you can go a season and that could be a year where you don't have a job and you've got to try and find ways to make it work.

"From an Australian standpoint, when you look at the NBL, there's 10 head coaching jobs then there's another two or three assistant coaches per team. So you're looking at maybe 30 to 40 full-time professional jobs in the sport in this country. So, I guess I was comfortable in knowing that administratively, I built up a skill set as a general manager and there's a lot more of those full-time jobs in basketball at that operational level.

"But I never really gave up on the coaching... Then, strangely enough, when I least expected it, the call came and now it's been nearly two years since and it's been a pretty successful and fun journey along the way. Here I am full-time with the defending NBL champions, which is pretty cool."

Speaking of the defending champions, the Hawks have almost been dismissed already as contenders to repeat their championship efforts from last season with so much change in their roster, including the departures of import Trey Kell, sharpshooter Hyunjung Lee, Darius Days and the injury to Sam Froling who isn't expected to return from an achilles tear until at least January.

Hawks embrace underdog tag

But Khalu said that's just the way the "under-the-radar" Hawks like it.

"It's funny, we had a coaches meeting the other day and spoke about exactly that," he said.

"That's one thing about our group, JT loves us flying under the radar. Last year, obviously, coming into this time of year, no one really gave us a chance, they saw the roster and parked us in that towards the bottom end of the ladder.

"Then we come out and have a really good start to the year and the talk starts around us, but we're quite happy to be considered underdogs in terms of the group and where we currently sit with things. Internally for us, we know how good this group can be and there's always championship aspirations for the team and from a coaching staff that hasn't deviated at all.

"The league's gotten a lot better when you look across the teams and their recruitment. The preseason's always fun. There's always teams that the outside basketball experts have ranked here and there and one thing I found with the NBL, it's a long season and anything can happen.

"We feel like the new pieces that we've added in, particularly in JaVale and Jonah Bolden, are going to help solidify our frontcourt. I thought Jonah was really good in the Blitz and he's starting to find his feet already. The other thing that's really good for us is just continuity, we still got nine guys returning from last year.

"Obviously, we've still got our last final Australian spot to fill, so we're still working through that. We're confident in the group that we've got. Championship experience can't be duplicated but you've got to go out and win it to make that happen.

"But we're happy to come in under the radar this season and hopefully can hit the ground running."

The Hawks start their title defence against the Tasmania JackJumpers at WIN Entertainment Centre on September 27.