Brian Goorjian has signed a multi-year deal to become head coach of the NBL's Sydney Kings, sources told ESPN.
Goorjian, currently the head coach of the Australian Boomers, landed in Sydney on Tuesday afternoon to finalise terms with the Kings, sources said, with an announcement scheduled for Wednesday.
The appointment comes less than a week after the Kings parted ways with Mahmoud Abdelfattah, who led the team to a 13-15 record over the 2023-24 NBL season, finishing in fifth place before being knocked out of title contention in their play-in game against the New Zealand Breakers.
The Kings chose to move quickly with the hiring of a new head coach, avoiding an issue they experienced last off-season where they entered free agency without one, which severely limited their capacity to engage seriously with high-level local free agents.
Prior to this NBL season, the Kings won back-to-back championships with Chase Buford at the helm.
Goorjian's signing in Sydney sees the 70-year-old return to the franchise he led to a three-peat as head coach from 2003-2005.
A former player with the Melbourne Tigers, Goorjian soon moved to coaching, at the helm of the Eastside Spectres, South East Melbourne Magic, Victoria Titans, Kings, South Dragons, and Illawarra Hawks over the course of his career manning the NBL sidelines.
News Corp was first to report on Goorjian agreeing to terms with Sydney.
Goorjian is the NBL's all-time leader in games coached (803), games won (553), and is second all-time in winning percentage (68.9 percent) for those who've been at the helm for more than two games, only behind Buford (69.1 percent). The native of Glendale, California is a six-time NBL Champion and six-time NBL Coach of the Year.
Most recently, Goorjian was the head coach of the Bay Area Dragons in the East Asia Super League. Prior to that, he spent two seasons as head coach of the Hawks.
Goorjian did not coach domestically over the course of the 2023-24 NBL season to focus on his Australian national team duties ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Going into free agency, the Kings have Alex Toohey (Next Star), Angus Glover, DJ Hogg (mutual option), and Makuach Maluach (team option) contracted for the 2024-25 NBL season.