Former captain Michael Bree has been appointed the new head coach of the Ireland senior men's basketball team.
Bree will take charge of the team from 1 September and has signed a four-year contract.
He takes over from Mark Keenan who stepped down from the role in April.
Capped over 40 caps for Ireland between 2000 and 2006 – the Sligo man is currently assistant with Denmark’s senior men’s team and will start his new role at the conclusion of their FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying campaign.
Bree has been with the Danish national team since 2023.
The 45-year-old spent five years as Sweden’s Under-16 and U18 men’s head coach and worked with Gothenburg’s Högsbo Basket, following an eight-year professional playing career in France, Germany, Spain, Poland and Sweden between 2002 and 2010.
After leaving Sligo in 1998, Bree played college basketball at NCAA Division 1 programme Davidson College in North Carolina.
Speaking to RTÉ 2fm's Game On after his appointment, Bree said it was a no-brainer to take on the role from his point of view.
"The motivation is quite simple. I'm Irish and I've been involved in Irish basketball all my life, it's given me so much and these types of jobs only come around once in a lifetime essentially, so when I had the opportunity, I took it and good fortune, obviously I was selected," he said.
On a four-year contract, Bree said his outlook had a long-term focus in terms of growing the game in this country.
"Short term is to continue what's been going on before me," he said.
"Ireland has developed tremendously over the last couple of years, obviously coming out of the Small Nations, winning that competition and being highly competitive in the next level.
"To continue that success and try to head towards another tier in Europe of being able to qualify for the European Championships, getting to that point or being competitive at that level.
"So it's mainly about development and growth and trying to improve the sport, but at the highest level but also at the grassroots level.
"Ireland has been producing more and more talented kids over the last couple of years. You see that with the sending of players to college in the States, you see more and more players being recruited.
"Ireland is producing different types of players and types of player profiles, so obviously the work is being done at the moment, so it's only a matter of continuing that, getting more and more kids involved in the sport."
