Basketball Otago general manager Justin Ludlow today announced the reappointment of Todd Marshall as head coach of the Otago Gold Rush for the 2018 New Zealand Women’s Basketball Championship (WBC) season. 

Basketball Otago advertised the head coaching role in September and were unsuccessful in finding Marshall’s replacement after he initially decided to step down from the role at the conclusion of the 2017 campaign. 

After BBO re-advertised the role in early January, a conversation with Ludlow encouraged Marshall to express his interest in rejoining the team again for 2018. 

“With the new and exciting format of the WBC for 2018 and beyond, it was important that we had the most experienced coach available to us to lead the Gold Rush into the new era of women’s basketball in this country which culminates in the finals being hosted in Dunedin in July. We believe Todd fits that criteria, and we are thrilled to have secured his services for what will be a very challenging but enjoyable season” Ludlow said. 

The Otago Gold Rush have secured a spot in tier one of the 2018 WBC with seven other teams. This will be reduced to six in 2019 with the bottom two teams dropping down into tier 2 from 2019. 

2018 WBC 

Tier 1: Canterbury Wildcats, Auckland Dream, Harbour Breeze, Otago Gold Rush, Taranaki Thunder, Tauranga City Coasters, Waikato Country Cannons, Waikato Wizards. 

Tier 2: Capital Swish, Nelson Sparks, North Canterbury, Rotorua Lady Vols, Te Tai Tokerau Phoenix. 

Tier 3: Manawatu, Southland, Otago Gold Rush Development. 

Tournament 1 – Tier One and Two teams May 4-6 Tauranga. 

Home and Away games – Tier One teams May 7 to June 24. 

Finals Tournament – Tier One, Two and Three teams July 5-7 Dunedin. 

Tier One will comprise of eight teams in 2018, reducing to six teams in 2019. The bottom two teams this year will join tier two next season. At the conclusion of the 2019 season a promotion/relegation match may take place between the bottom placed tier one team and the top ranked tier two team.