Where are they now: Tom Garlepp

Since the Sydney Kings first hit the hardwood in 1988, numerous great players have sported the mighty purple and gold uniform.   

To recognise and reconnect with those club legends, the Kings have launched a 'Where are they now' series, profiling what former stars of Sydney are up to.   

After profiling Ben Madgen and BJ Carter in the first two instalments, Kings Media decided to catch up forward Tom Garlepp – who played 163 of his 263 NBL games with the purple and gold.  

The Perry Lakes Hawks junior progressed through the Western Australia ranks before spending time at the Australian Institute of Sport (2004) and at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2005-2007).  

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From there, the now 37-year-old had NBL stints with Perth, Adelaide and Gold Coast before joining the harbour city side in 2012, which was the first of six seasons with the Kings.  

Once he decided to hang up the boots, he transitioned across to coaching – a role he’d been doing for most of his playing career.  

“For four of my final six years with the Kings, I'd already been volunteering at Northern Suburbs Basketball Association – in particular coaching some of their junior and senior teams," said Garlepp, who has been coaching schools and junior representative teams since the age of 21 – dating back to his time in Perth."  

"Not long after I retired, a job came up to manage their stadium at Crows Nest, which I applied for and got." 

It wasn't too long before Garlepp climbed up the coaching ranks and started leading NSW team's charges at junior national titles, as well as becoming the director of coaching of Norths.  

"Coaching director was the perfect role for me to ease into after playing, allowing me to interact with the local basketball community and use my Master of Coaching and Education degree at the University of Sydney (which he now uses during his work at Saint Ignatius' College Riverview as the basketball program coordinator and first V coach)."  

Garlepp credits a lot of his success on the sidelines to his time in NBL and an in particular, the Kings.  

"Being in that environment taught me to try and be the best version of myself – a trait I still try and uphold to this day,” said Garlepp, who guided the NSW under 20 women's team to the Australian title in March.  

"As a player, you try really hard to maximise your potential and win a championship.  

"Ultimately, I fell short of the championship part but felt I gave my playing career a real crack to get the most out of myself.  

"Coaching gives me the chance to try and help people achieve the same, as I really enjoy seeing people achieve their goals on the court."  

"Especially as I was lucky to play for nine different head coaches during my 11-year professional career – all of whom brought a different approach to the game, including two of my first coaches John Gardiner and Scott Fisher, who have had a huge impact on me."  

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Upon reflecting on his time in the purple and gold, Garlepp singled out numerous highlights that stick with to him this day.  

"I used to love play at Darling Harbour and that special part place that's known all around the world – especially being able to step out after the game and be among it all," said Garlepp, who was recently named the Australian coach for the FIBA U16 Women’s Asian Championship in Amman, Jordan.    

"Then reaching the semi-finals with the Kings in 2012-13 for the first time since the club's re-birth was a nice moment, as being a successful player on a successful Kings side is a goal that drove me during my tenure at the club.  

"And finally breaking into Qudos Bank Arena and seeing the start of something that's now cemented itself as a hot ticket item in the Sydney sporting landscape.  

"[All in all] I just loved playing for Sydney and representing the city every time I stepped onto the court, as we've got a great culture here involving people that go about building up basketball the right way."  

Adding to that, Garlepp is thrilled with the current state of the Hoops Capital club.  

"They seem to be going really well, both on off the court, highlighted by those two championships – giving them amazing runs on the board moving forward," said Garlepp, who I grateful for all the players he played for during this career.  

"To me, they've cemented themselves as the premier program in Australian basketball, which dates back when they made that grand final with Will Weaver.  

"The past four years, the Kings have had an extremely professional and cutting-edge approach and put some exciting teams, that play a high-quality brand of basketball, on the floor that has made them the benchmark.  

"As a past player, who endured some modest results on the court with the club, it's a credit to everyone in the organisation to the level that they hold for themselves now."  

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As a coach and working with the Kings of the future on a regular basis, Garlepp appreciates the impact the club has on the growth of the sport around Greater Sydney.  

"Basketball, being the fun sport it is, is obviously going well in Sydney and a reason for that is how many eyes the Kings are getting on a regular basis to their games – with the crowds being consistently huge," he said.  

"All kids are impressionable, and these NSW juniors have the fantastic opportunity to see firsthand the heights they can reach in their own careers.  

"Both our boys and girls have been competing strongly at a national level for some time and it will be really interesting to see the long-term impact and legacy the Kings’ success has on the next generation.  

"Helping create that platform is something I'm really passionate about and proud to play a small role in."  

Further to that, Garlepp is impressed by the direction the Hoops Capital club, encompassing the Flames, is headed  

"While it's still fresh and there is obviously still some ground to cover [between the men's and women's competitions], there's a lot of potential positives that I'm seeing from the one banner [Hoops Capital] approach," he said.  

"I have no doubts there's plenty of great things that can take place by this marriage and I’m confident it'll only strengthen both programs moving future – which is great to see."