Reinking Names Great Britain Coaching Staff for EuroBasket Pre-Qualifiers
The British Basketball Federation has announced the members of Head Coach Nate Reinking’s coaching staff for the EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifying campaign, naming Jamie Smith and Marc Steutel as assistant coaches.
Also named to Reinking’s staff are Chris Morris as team manager, Tom Cresswell as lead therapist, Aaron Wharton as physiotherapist, Mark Williams as strength & conditioning coach, and Dane Vishnubala as team doctor.
GB will be taking on both Kosovo and Luxembourg throughout August as Reinking’s side look to advance to the main qualification stage for EuroBasket 2021. Their pre-qualification campaign gets underway on 7 August as GB travel to Kosovo, before welcoming Luxembourg to Manchester on 10 August and entertaining Kosovo a week later on 17 August. The schedule wraps on 21 August with a final game away in Luxembourg as only the top side in Group G will progress.
Jamie Smith – Assistant Coach
Jamie Smith is reunited with Nate Reinking after the two first worked together at GB under Joe Prunty in 2013. They teamed up again in 2016 and 2017 and Smith has remained on the coaching staff ever since, serving under Tony Garbelotto, and Alberto Lorenzo.
Prior to returning home to the U.K. in 2016, Smith enjoyed a 17-year coaching career in the United States which included a couple of stops in the NBA. Smith served on the coaching staff of the Boston Celtics as a video coordinator under Doc Rivers during the “Big Three” era, and as an assistant coach for the Celtics’ NBA Summer League team under Tyronn Lue. Smith was also a part of Byron Scotts’s coaching staff at the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside former GB coaches Joe Prunty and Kenny Graves.
At the collegiate level, Smith has worked with championship winning teams and apprenticed under some of the game’s finest head coaches including Billy Donovan at the University of Florida, and Roy Williams at the University of North Carolina.
Marc Steutel – Assistant Coach
Marc Steutel joins Coach Reinking’s staff after receiving his first call up to the Great Britain’s men’s national team bench in November 2018. This followed a successful campaign leading the GB U20 Men to a 10th place finish in Division A of the FIBA European Championships earlier that summer.
Steutel first got involved with the national team in 2013 when he acted as an Assistant Coach under Douglas Leichner for the GB U20’s team which made history by winning a silver medal at the FIBA Division B European Championships and gained promotion to Division A.
Outside of GB, Steutel is the Head of Men’s Basketball at Northumbria University. Since 2011, he has led the programme to unprecedented success winning five national championships across NBL Division 1, National Cup, and BUCS (British Universities Colleges Sports) competitions. Steutel has been named Basketball England Coach of the Year on three occasions (2012, 2013, 2017).
Chris Morris – Team Manager
Chris Morris has been Team Manager for the Men’s National Team since December 2017 and has been involved in basketball as a player, coach, referee, and administrator for over 40 years. Morris played for both Newcastle University and Teesside Polytechnic in the mid 1980s and was part of the Teesside team that reached the British Polytechnics National Final in 1987, coached by former GB National Team Manager Graham Rayner.
Morris first worked with the Great Britain National Team in 2011 when he served as a Team Attaché throughout the London Prepares Olympic Test Event Tournament. Following this, he was appointed Team Attaché for the USA Men and worked with them closely throughout their gold medal winning 2012 Olympic Tournament campaign. He carried out the same role for the South Africa Wheelchair Basketball team for the London 2012 Paralympics.
Tom Cresswell – Head Therapist
Tom Cresswell is a Sports Therapist and Strength & Conditioning Coach with over 10 years of experience in elite sport. He predominantly works in team sports: rugby and basketball. At some point with Basketball England and Great Britain Basketball, Cresswell has staffed every age group team, male and female. When not courtside, Cresswell also works as Performance Coach Manager to the Mercedes F1 Race Team.
Aaron Wharton – Physiotherapist
Aaron Wharton has served as the men’s national team physiotherapist since November 2018 after previously spending two summers with the Great Britain U18 Women’s programme. Since 2015, Wharton has worked as a physiotherapist for women’s basketball powerhouse, Nottingham Wildcats, and has helped the team to two WBBL Championship titles, three Betty Codona Classic titles and one National Trophy title.
Mark Williams – Strength & Conditioning Coach
Mark Williams works with the Great Britain Basketball Men’s and Women’s national team squads, a position he has held since 2015. In this role, Williams oversees all the physical conditioning and sports science related aspects of the players. He has a Masters degree in Strength and Conditioning from St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, and is an Accredited coach with the UK Strength and Conditioning Association.
Dane Vishnubala – Team Doctor
Dr. Dane Vishnubala is in his fifth season as the team doctor for the Great Britain Men’s National Team. Outside of GB Basketball, Dr. Vishnubala is an NHS Sport and Exercise Medicine Doctor working with a range of organisations including Basketball England, York City FC, York City Knights RL, and the Football Association. He currently leads the MSc in Sport and Exercise Medicine at the University of Leeds.
Tickets are still available for the GB games against Kosovo and Luxembourg, to pick up your tickets please click HERE