HIgh Performance COaching staff
Head Coaches
Matthew Johnston
Matt has been coaching basketball for 18 years. His early years' were spent being mentored by some incredibly well-to-do coaches at the Gosford City Rebels, on the NSW Central Coast. When he took the reins of his own teams he had early success with a State Championship and a U14 Club National Championship Semi-final appearance in 2010-11. At the same time he began assisting with NSW Country State Teams before making a move to Townsville for a position as the Development Coach of the Townsville McDonald's Crocodiles. During his tenure there he coached numerous QLD North State Teams with varying championship results as he helped develop players who've gone on to fulfil their College and NBL dreams, all whilst he held the Development Manager Role at Townsville Basketball Incorporated.
Moving back to home on the Central Coast, he once again found himself within the NSW Country State Program coaching in two AJC semi-finals in that time. Lately Matt has been developing a basketball program at Waverley College where he leads the program as the Head Coach and 1st V coach, The Waverley program has gone from winning 20% of games against CAS schools, to 50-70% of games since starting there 5 years ago.
In 2021-22 he made a run at coaching Senior basketball in the NSW Waratah League and the Inaugural NBL East Season for the Norths Bears, where his first year was hampered by COVID and in the 2nd year falling short in the quarter-finals. In 2024, Matt has committed to the Sydney University Men's UBL team where he is excited to be helping players who are aspiring to achieve their goals of stepping into NBL roles in their future.
Renae Garlepp
Renae played 10 seasons in the WNBL, winning both the competition’s Rookie of the Year award and Grand Final MVP, along with two championships.
Renae retired professionally in 2014 and has found her feet in numerous coaching roles within NSW. Renae has coached within the Basketball NSW state program, while also currently coaching the Norths Bears Women’s NBL1 side. She coached the NBL1 side to a National Championship in 2023. Renae is also currently employed as the Director of Basketball at SCECGS Redlands.
Renae was selected to be assistant coach of the Australian Opals at the Asian Cup in 2023 and continues to be very involved with the Australian Women’s Basketball program. The Sydney Flames hired her as an assistant coach this recent season as she continues to take over to build her distinguished resume as an elite basketball coach in Australia.
In 2020, Renae also led Sydney Uni Basketball’s women’s squad in their Inter-Varsity Series against UTS. She coached the Women’s UBL to a minor premiership in 2021 (no grand finals due to COVID) and has been runners up in 2022 and 2023.
Renae is also a member of Basketball Australia’s Emerging Coaches Initiative, which has been devised to provide identified coaches aged 22-35 years with professional development, training, and opportunities for mentoring.
Assistant Coaches
Liam Cavanagh-downs
Liam has been coaching for 10 years, starting his career coaching juniors at 16 and was Head of High Performance at Inner West Bulls before moving to Norths Bears where he has been coaching for 5 years now, currently coaching U14 Boys who are playing for a National Championship this year.
Liam coached under Robbie McKinley at St Joseph’s College, and has been at Shore School for the last 5 years as a High Performance coach. He won Bronze Medal as an Assistant Coach in the 2023 U16 National Championships for NSW Metro, assisting again this year.
Currently Video Coordinator & Skills Coach for Sydney Flames under Guy Molloy for the last 2 seasons, Intern Coach with Sydney Kings the 3 years before that, coached under Adam Forde as well as NBA Coaches Will Weaver and won the 2022 championship with Chase Buford.
Liam assisted with video work for the Australian Opals during the Asia Cup last year. Finally, he has been with USYD for 3 seasons winning in 2022 and is currently finishing Masters of Education (Sports Coaching) at USYD.
Shac shorer
Shac currently works as the 2024 Youth League Women Head Coach & NBL1 Women Assistant Coach at Norths Bears under Renae Garlepp. He was a Junior Rep Coach at Norths Bears from 2021-2023.
He is the current Head Coach for the Barker College Girls Firsts.
Shac had the opportunity to be a Development Coach at the Sydney Kings in 2022-2023, the season in which they won the NBL Championship!
He has been working as a High Performance Coach at Basketball New South Wales since the start of 2023.
Shac has been the Sydney Univeristy UBL Women’s Assistant Coach for 2 years, finishing as a runner up in 2023 and UBL Champions in 2024!
Tom Garlepp
Representing the Sydney Kings for six seasons, including two as captain, while also playing with the Gold Coast Blaze and Adelaide 36ers, Tom retired from professional basketball in 2018 and has quickly made a name for himself as one of Australia’s brightest coaching prospects.
Tom has previously been an assistant coach with the Brydens Sydney Uni Flames program, while also holding head coaching roles with Basketball NSW’s state program and the Norths Bears Director of Basketball. He is also the Director of Basketball and 1st Head Coach at St Ignatious College High School.
Tom was selected as the Head Coach of the U16s Australian Womens Sapphires in 2023, where he led them to a victory in the 2023 FIBA Asia Cup
In 2020, Tom oversaw Sydney Uni Basketball’s 3-1 Inter-Varsity Series win over UTS, coaching a number of prospects likely to feature for the Sydney Uni in the inaugural University Basketball League. Tom coached the UBL team to a minor premiership in 2021 and then the UBL 2022 Premiers! Tom also completed a Masters of Education (Sports Coaching) at Sydney University in 2019.
Tom is a member of Basketball Australia’s Emerging Coaches Initiative, which has been devised to provide identified coaches aged 22-35 years with professional development, training, and opportunities for mentoring.