Eurovision: Ireland turns to WNBL coaching talent

Fresh off leading the Australian team to the bronze medal at the 2026 FIBA Under-17 Women's World Cup in Czechia, Tom Garlepp has been appointed for his next international gig.

The 2026 NBL1 East men's championship winner with Norths was recently unveiled as the Head Coach of the Irish senior women's team.

The 40-year-old has signed a three-year agreement with Ireland, and his first game in charge will be the FIBA Women's EuroBasket 2029 Pre-Qualifying game against Iceland at the National Basketball Arena on November 11 this year.

This will be followed by away games against Azerbaijan and Switzerland, on November 14 and 17 respectively.

"I feel very grateful and fortunate for the opportunity to take over as Ireland senior women's Head Coach," Garlepp said to Basketball Ireland.

"Recent victories over Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the close loss to Latvia in Dublin, highlight the progress that the program has made in recent qualifying campaigns and I'd like to acknowledge the excellent work done by my predecessor James Weldon.

"I am very excited about the squad and the potential of the players coming through the international pathway program.

"I'm looking forward to working with the players and staff to be the best we can be, while building on the strong foundations already in place."

Garlepp has been part of Basketball Australia's junior women's setup for close to five years, which includes gold medals at the 2023 and 2025 under 16s FIBA Asia Cup, as well as the 2022 under 18s tournament.

Garlepp replaces Weldon, who had been in the role since January 2019 and led Ireland to a silver medal at the 2021 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries, as well as the team's return to FIBA Women's EuroBasket, where they picked up two impressive wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina in their most recent campaign.

"We are delighted to appoint Tom Garlepp as our new senior women's Head Coach," Chair of Ireland's Elite Performance Committee (EPC), Deirdre Brennan, said.

"Tom brings an exceptional blend of international coaching success, high-performance leadership, and athlete-centred development experience that aligns strongly with our vision for the future of Irish women's basketball.

"His record of developing athletes, winning at the highest junior international levels, and building positive high-performance environments made him a standout candidate. We believe he has the expertise, leadership and vision to build on our success to date and elevate our women's program on the international stage."

Prior to his coaching career, Garlepp played professionally for 14 years, including 11 in the NBL with Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast and Sydney.

Read the full story here >> Thomas Garlepp Appointed Ireland senior women's head coach