Neil Hamilton-Smith
Hall of Fame Class: 2013 Role: Contributor
Neil Hamilton-Smith’s association with basketball began in the early 1970s, when his wife Pam Schiller convinced him to coach the Brisbane women’s team that competed in the Australian Women’s Club Championships – the forerunner to the WNBL.
After that brief coaching role, Hamilton-Smith served in several positions for Brisbane Basketball throughout the 1970s – including Vice President, and Secretary at the time of the January 1974 floods. Then, when the Brisbane Bullets became a dominant force in the NBL in the mid-1980’s, Hamilton-Smith had a ringside seat as both a member of the club’s board and as courtside announcer, where he served in the role from the Bullets first home game in 1979 right through to their last game in 2008.
Today, Hamilton-Smith continues to serve basketball as the Chairman of Basketball Queensland, and continues to play an active role in endeavouring to bring an NBL team back to Brisbane. Neil’s induction is testament to his long-standing and unwavering commitment to the sport in Queensland.
