The Sydney Kings have gone abroad to land their new coach with American Chase Buford signing a multi-year deal with the NBL club.
Buford was head coach of the Wisconsin Herd, the NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 32-year-old is the son of five-time NBA championship winning general manager R.C. Buford - who played a key role in the success of the San Antonio Spurs.
Buford's appointment comes after the Kings elected not to extend the one-year contract of Adam Forde, who took the reins when Will Weaver returned to the US to take up an NBA assistant role with the Houston Rockets.
Weaver was a G-League coach before taking up the Kings job in 2019 and leading them to their first NBL grand final series in more than a decade.
Kings chairman and owner Paul Smith was thrilled to confirm Buford's impending arrival once he ends his commitments with the Bucks, who are involved in the NBA's eastern conference finals.
"Chase is a widely respected coach and has shown a special ability to develop players both on and off the court," Smith said in a Kings statement.
"His proven success, leadership, communication skills and basketball intellect make him the right fit to lead our team into the future."
During the 2019-20 G-League season, Buford led Wisconsin to a league-best 33-10 record; the biggest improvement year-to-year (21 wins) in the competition's history.
"I am beyond grateful to Paul, Chris, and the entire Kings family for welcoming me and entrusting me with this fantastic opportunity to be the next coach of the Kings," Buford said.
