Newfoundland Rogues forced to hire new head coach when the one under contract went ... rogue

With the 2024-25 season's opening tip off just 24 days away, the Newfoundland Rogues announced the hiring of its new head coach on Wednesday.

Former University of Louisville standout Reece Gaines will become the franchise's second head coach, but the team is still working to get over the sudden departure of its last one.

The bench boss position became available after the only coach the Rogues have ever known, Jerry Williams, left the province for the defending Basketball Super League (BSL) champion London Lightning.

"We were all surprised with what had happened with our coach as we understood that he was under a two-year contract," Rogues owner Tony Kenny said during a virtual news conference Wednesday.

"We were surprised when he announced that he was with another team."

With Williams gone, Kenny said the Rogues search for a replacement took them around the basketball world before landing them with Reece Gaines.

Basketball pundits call him one of the best shooting guards to come out of the University of Louisville. 

The now-43-year-old graduated in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in sociology before being drafted in the first round of the NBA draft by the Orlando Magic.

The man from Madison, Wisconsin, spent three years playing in the NBA before he moved overseas to play in European leagues. He later went on to coach for the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League.

His newest challenge? A head coaching job in a league he's never been in, and a city he's never visited.

"That's what I am looking forward to the most, seeing what I am made of," Gaines said.

"How much energy, how much wisdom, how much guidance and how much winning we can do and that's really what this is all about, winning games and playing inspiring basketball."

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Williams, who guided the team through its first three years and through two different leagues, cut his contract short and took the head coaching job for a BSL rival.

It's a move that the Rogues have asked the league to investigate, but Kenny is focused on the future. 

"This is a young, growing league and there are going to be mistakes that will happen as we go along in the journey," said Kenny.

"We've got to be strong enough to learn from those mistakes, put this behind us and move forward."

Moving forward is what the Rogues have been doing by announcing recently signed players on its social media sites — work that was ongoing during the outgoing coach's tenure.

Gaines is set to arrive in the next two weeks and the Rogues training camp will open on Nov. 6.

For the first time in the team's history, it'll hold an open tryout for local players to try and crack the lineup. 

The Rogues will play 38 games this season, with 24 of them at Mary Brown's Centre. 

"At the end of the day playing together, being one single unit — which for me is the most fun challenge that I am looking forward to because at the college level it's a little easier," Gaines said.

"Dealing with pros, its a little more difficult because at the end of the day it's natural for a professional basketball player to be about himself before the team and luckily my experience in the G League has taught me how to deal with that."

The Rogues first game of the season is against Moncton on Nov. 16.

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