A disappointing 2014 SEABL season left Harvey pondering his coaching future, but his passion for the Braves and basketball won out when it came to his final decision.

“I spent a bit of time away after the season and what it came down to was that I couldn’t walk away after such a disappointing season,’’ Harvey said.

“I didn’t want to go out after missing the play-offs.

“I have the hunger to get the club back where it belongs.

“We’re a proud club and we want to get back to the top.”

Harvey’s first task is to rebuild a playing roster that won’t include 2014 imports Dustin Salisbery and Zack Atkinson.

 “The first thing I need to do is re-sign our local talent,’’ Harvey said.

“The Australian content form the nucleus of our group and we want to sort that out first.

“Once we know where we are at with the likes of Chris Hogan, Taylor Bell and Kevin Probert, then we can look at what other Australian talent we can bring into the group.

“We’re looking for imports right now because we need to see who is available, but right now my main goal is to get our Australian content right.

“Import wise we need to make sure we select players who are going to fit into our team chemistry.”

Salisbery and Atkinson showed flashes of brilliance last season, but the Braves struggled to gel on the court.

“Sometimes you get it right when it comes to imports, sometimes you don’t,’’ Harvey said.

“Dustin and Zack were great guys, but they just didn’t fit into our team culture.

“Over the years the Braves have been very good with their imports.

“It’s not all about points and rebounds with imports. You look at Mount Gambier – they only had one import, who played his role tremendously well, plus strong Australian content and they won the championship because they were the best team.”