Basketball Otago honoured two of its great stalwarts last night.
John Barr and Todd Marshall were awarded Basketball Otago life membership at the senior representative prizegiving at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin last night.
Barr played a leading role in the basketball community in the 1990s and was influential in the establishment of Basketball Otago as an entity in 1996.
He was the first president of the newly combined organisation and remained in the role for 10 years.
During this tenure he also had a major role with keeping the Otago Nuggets operational through the 1990s.
He was also on the Nuggets board for eight years.
Barr played a significant role in convincing the Dunedin City Council to install several wooden courts at the Edgar Centre which allowed Basketball Otago to move its previous home at the Dunedin Stadium to the Edgar Centre where it is based today.
Barr also had significant roles with Basketball New Zealand as a board member in the early 2000s. He was on the board which appointed Tab Baldwin as coach of the Tall Blacks.
He clocked 104 games as coach. But it was with the Otago Gold Rush coach that Marshall achieved his greatest results.
He led the women to the national title in 2015 and was rewarded by being named the New Zealand’s Women’s Basketball Championships coach of the year.
He led the Gold Rush to the national title again in 2018.
Marshall was appointed coach of the Southern Hoiho in 2023 .
The Hoiho had recorded just one win the previous season. But under Marshall’s guidance they were a title contender until injury seriously hindered their push.
Marshall also served on the Basketball Otago board, and was part of the Otago Nuggets board which resurrected the Nuggets in 2010 after they had skipped the 2009 season due to a lack of financial support.
The senior club awards were presented last month. Mid City’s Magic Mitchell Hughan was named men’s MVP while Tia Pavihi (South Pac Magic) scooped the women’s MVP title.
