How are you feeling Mark?

I’m excited to be here in Melbourne, obviously I’ve never been here before, and Mark Cowan and the South Dragons are trying to get a franchise going and I’m one of the guys they’re looking at so I jumped at the opportunity to come over here.

How did it all come about?

I met Adrian Newall (South Dragons scout), he was over in the states looking at different people and we talked, he had a good visit and I ended up being one of the guys considered for the job.

What sort of things are you going to get up to?

Actually I’ve got a big long list. Unfortunately my wife wasn’t able to come with me but I understand we’re going to look for schools, places to live, where the team’s going to play – I’m going to get a whole flavour of Melbourne.

Obviously family is going to play a really big factor in your decision?

For me family is the most important thing. I have four kids and any time six people are involved in a decision it’s not an easy one, I’m coming over to see if this could be good for us.

The prospect of a new franchise to sink your teeth into must be really exciting?

It is exciting and it seems like I tend to fall into that category all the time. When I went to college we were rebuilding, when I played professionally Cleveland were rebuilding also, so that kind of situation doesn’t scare or intimidate me. It’s a great challenge and I’m excited by it.

Do you know much about the Australian league at all?

I’ve been trying to find out as much information as possible, I’ve talked to several people who’ve coached over here in the past and I’m looking forward to seeing the game tomorrow night and getting a feel for the level of competition and how things are done over here.

What’s the timeframe on a decision?

I think a decision is possible pretty quickly. We’ve done a lot of the groundwork to this point. You can only do so much without seeing the place, so this visit’s kind of a chance to get a feel for Melbourne. This is the last step. I’ll go home, we’ll talk with my family and I want to be fair to Mark Cowan and the Dragons as well, and give them a decision in the near future because I know they need to get moving,

What could you bring as a coach?

First of all I’m not that removed from the playing group. I think my experience as a player, I’ve been around basketball my whole life and my father was a coach and I’ve coached at lower than professional levels. At some level basketball is basketball and although you’re dealing with different personalities, for me it would be exciting coaching a young group that’re hungry and trying to take the next step themselves.

Brent’s here to help you make that decision?

Since my wife couldn’t come I asked Brent to kind of give me another set of eyes and who knows if I took the job maybe I could talk him into being my assistant?

Why Australia?

I think opportunities come up, and this could be a very unique situation and an opportunity to see another part of the world. I’ve always been a person to look at opportunites when they come, and I’m interested to see if Melbourne would be a good fit. Up until this point things have moved to the stage where I’m interested and I want to see what’s on offer.

Maybe you can put your hand up for player/coach?

Well we’ll see how they’re playing (laughs). My knees aren’t as good as they used to be.