Staff Directory
Darren Best
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
Darren Best, a leading talent developer in Australia, enters his first season as an assistant coach with ACU men's basketball in 2026-27.
Best spent more than 10 years coaching across Austrlia, Europe, Asia and the United States. He worked primarily in Australia with stints for Basketball Queensland, Basketball Tasmania and Basketball Victoria in High Performance Development programs.
Best won multiple Australian National Championships as a high performance head coach for the Victorian Metropolitan men's program. As an assistant, he helped Australian Junior National teams win multiple gold medals, including the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany along with FIBA Oceania Championships.
Best represented Basketball Victoria as head coach at multiple international tournaments across China, Japan and Taiwan, winning two gold medals and one bronze medal. He also served as basketball development manager at Casey Basketball Association, helping grow the association into one of the largest in Australia while leading programs that earned multiple Program of the Year awards.
Immediately prior to joining ACU, Best moved to the U.S. where was an assistant coach with West Memphis Public Schools in Arkansas.
The Melbourne, Australia native played collegiately at York College, now named York University, in Nebraska, and Rend Lake College in Illinois.
ACU has had success with players from 'Down Under'. Tobias Cameron, originally from New Zealand, played in 143 games for the Wildcats from 2018-22 and finished his career in the top 10 in career assists and offensive rebounds. Sydney, Australia native Hunter Jack Madden was one of the best sharp-shooters in ACU history. From 2022-25, Madden started 76 games and sank 137 3-pointers.
Head Coach Brette Tanner says...
"Darren is a proven winner at the international level and can really help us offensively. Australia has been a place that has been so good to us in recruiting and I have no doubt Coach Best with only strengthen that relationship."
Best spent more than 10 years coaching across Austrlia, Europe, Asia and the United States. He worked primarily in Australia with stints for Basketball Queensland, Basketball Tasmania and Basketball Victoria in High Performance Development programs.
Best won multiple Australian National Championships as a high performance head coach for the Victorian Metropolitan men's program. As an assistant, he helped Australian Junior National teams win multiple gold medals, including the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany along with FIBA Oceania Championships.
Best represented Basketball Victoria as head coach at multiple international tournaments across China, Japan and Taiwan, winning two gold medals and one bronze medal. He also served as basketball development manager at Casey Basketball Association, helping grow the association into one of the largest in Australia while leading programs that earned multiple Program of the Year awards.
Immediately prior to joining ACU, Best moved to the U.S. where was an assistant coach with West Memphis Public Schools in Arkansas.
The Melbourne, Australia native played collegiately at York College, now named York University, in Nebraska, and Rend Lake College in Illinois.
ACU has had success with players from 'Down Under'. Tobias Cameron, originally from New Zealand, played in 143 games for the Wildcats from 2018-22 and finished his career in the top 10 in career assists and offensive rebounds. Sydney, Australia native Hunter Jack Madden was one of the best sharp-shooters in ACU history. From 2022-25, Madden started 76 games and sank 137 3-pointers.
Head Coach Brette Tanner says...
"Darren is a proven winner at the international level and can really help us offensively. Australia has been a place that has been so good to us in recruiting and I have no doubt Coach Best with only strengthen that relationship."
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