Hernando Planells Jr.

Professional Career

Hernando Planells brings a wealth of coaching experience to the revival of SlamBall, including his noteworthy tenure as the head coach of the Bouncers during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. His coaching journey extends beyond SlamBall, encompassing various esteemed positions at all levels of basketball. Planells served as the head women’s basketball coach at Williams Jessup University in 2020-21, sandwiched by stints as assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Illinois (2021-22) and Duke University (2012-19). Notably, under his guidance, 12 of his former players have been drafted by WNBA clubs. He also served as an assistant coach with the Maine Celtics of the NBA G-League in 2010-11 and was head coach for the Ryukyu Golden Kings of the Japan Professional League in 2007-08. Planells’ expertise in player personnel led him to work as a scout for Marty Blake, the NBA’s longtime Director of Scouting, from 2005 to 2010. In addition, he has been a sports coordinator on films such as Coach Carter, The Longest Yard, Rebound, Spider-Man 3, and Semi-Pro. He runs a leadership consulting company called “Be Contagious,” and he was named one of the top 10 motivational speakers in the country by Yahoo News in 2001.