Cadee: Gleeson no certainty for Cotton 36ers reunion

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Former Adelaide 36er Jason Cadee doesn't believe four-time NBL championship winner and Bryce Cotton's former mentor Trevor Gleeson is a certainty to replace Mike Wells at the helm of one of the league's powerhouse clubs.

Gleeson, who coached Cotton to three championships at the Perth Wildcats, is the favourite to take over as head coach of last season's runners-up from Wells after the American shocked many by stepping down from the position despite the club initially choosing to keep him over a change.

Whoever the new leader of the club is, they will be Adelaide's fifth coach in six years following Joey Wright's long tenure from 2013-2020.

The 36ers' list of coaches to come and go since 2020 includes Conor Henry, CJ Bruton, Scott Ninnis and now Wells.

While Gleeson, who is currently coaching the Chiba Jets in the Japanese B.League playoffs, is the most coveted choice among experts and fans, Cadee said he wouldn't be surprised if someone else came up to take the position.

"I don't know that t has to be Trev, for one," Cadee said on the latest edition of basketball.com.au podcast Cut to the Jase.

"Trev, obviously, he's one of the most credentialed out there from the NBL and what he's done. But I don't think it has to be him.

"But I almost look at it like whoever's coming in, it's the foundations there and people have seen they're able to get to game five of the grand final with basically that group. So you've got to come into that and people are going to be expecting a similar type season, right?

"So it's not an easy thing to take over from.

"Trev is obviously the name we know most about."

Cadee said we have seen a trend of NBL franchises going for international coaches rather than Australians and that could be the case once again for the 36ers despite Gleeson's relationship with Cotton and his previous success in the league.

"In this day and age, though, we spoke to Sammy (Mackinnon) about it, we don't see a lot of Australians get jobs," he said.

"So is the money there for him to come back from Japan or somewhere like that?

"We all think Trev (will be the choice) but part of me is also like, would it shock you if someone popped up out of the blue that we weren't expecting?"

Cut to the Jase co-host said if Gleeson was to come in as Adelaide's new coach, it would be a similar situation compared to when he took over the Wildcats from Rob Beveridge for the 2013-14 season, where the foundations were already present with a core that won a championship in 2010 and also went to several grand final series with the New Zealand Breakers.