He's avidly watched as Nick Kay has emerged from the chrysalis of the tall, skinny and raw teenager he first saw into one of the country's best basketballers.
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Now, in Lille, on Saturday night (AEST), John Ireland will be courtside, as his one-time charge and friend, and his Boomers side begin their quest for Olympic glory against Spain.
The Tamworth Thunderbolts men's coach flew out late last week, along with wife Soph, Nick's parents, Terrie and Paul, grandfather, Phil Maher, wife, Emily, and son Logan, for what will be his first-ever overseas trip.
He has been a reluctant flyer since a pretty hairy experience his first time on a plane.
"My first ever flight I did 42 take-offs and landings in Broken Hill doing a mail run," he recalled.
"A dust storm blew up in the middle of it.
"We [also] went into land at one runaway and the flaps on the plane didn't work so we had to land at full pace on a dirt runway, which you could imagine was pretty scary."
Another time the pilot turned the engine off, mid-air, for a practice stall and didn't tell him.
Needless to say he hasn't been keen on flying ever since.
But, when the discussion came up about heading over to Paris to watch Nick, the Tamworth Public School principal knew it was too good an opportunity to miss.
The first time he's ever seen the McCarthy Catholic College alumni play in the green and gold, it will be "a really special moment".
He only coached the forward/centre the one season - inbetween when he finished school at Newington and was picked up by Denver Metropolitan State University (MSU) - but the two have maintained a close friendship ever since.
"It's been an amazing journey to watch him grow up and transition into an outstanding young man that's obviously now representing our country at his second Olympics," Ireland said.
First coming across the now 31-year-old as "a tall skinny kid that was fairly fresh to basketball and fairly raw", later when he coached him and following his journey since, he said that thing that probably sticks out to him about Nick is his fundamental skills and team-first attitude.
"He's not about being flashy and throwing fancy passes or over-dribbling the ball, Nick's a guy that plays a role within a team and he will do whatever it takes within his role for the team to be successful," he said.
The teacher in him added that Nick's journey is "an amazing reflection of what kids can achieve, and what they can go on to do with their life when they put their mind to it and work hard at it".
Looking forward to hopefully catching some of the other events when they head into Paris, Ireland is also keen to see some of the more historic sights.
"I love my war history, so I want to go and visit places like Villers-Bretonneux, and Dunkirk and those sorts of places as well," he said.
The game against Spain tips-off at 7pm (AEST).
