Beginning his journey in the sport at 13, Joel Khalu went on to build a successful playing career and has since earned widespread respect within both Australian and international coaching communities.

Joel Khalu played 230 games across the CBA, ABA and QBL over 11 seasons, earning two National Championships (1998 & 2007) and six Queensland League Championships (1998, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2011 & 2012). His remarkable playing record stands at 192 wins and just 38 losses (84%), with 10 playoff appearances in 11 seasons.

Alongside his Australian career, Joel spent two years in the United States from 2002 to 2004 on scholarship, playing 55 collegiate games. He led the Waukesha Tech team to victory in the 2004 WJCAA Championship, earning National Player of the Week, All-State, All-Conference and Team MVP honours that season.

Beyond his playing career, Khalu is an accomplished FIBA coach and globally accredited presenter, having led coach development courses across Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the Pacific. He also coached at the 2022 NBA Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp in Canberra.

With 50 senior men’s international games under his belt, Khalu boasts an impressive record of 28 wins and 22 losses. He has led the Papua New Guinea Men’s National Team to two 4th-place finishes at the FIBA Pacific Games (2015 & 2019) and a historic Gold Medal at the FIBA Melanesia Cup in 2017. Khalu also coached the Australian Indigenous Men’s National Team to four consecutive Trans-Tasman Series titles against the New Zealand Maori Aotearoa National Team (2015–2018) and earned a Silver Medal at the 2019 International Indigenous Basketball & Cultural Tournament in New Zealand. In 2017, he helped the team secure an 11th-place finish at the World Indigenous Basketball Championships in Vancouver, Canada.

Professionally, Khalu is currently the Assistant Coach for the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL, where the team claimed the 2025 NBL Championship, marking their second title and first in 24 years.

He also mentored the Mackay Meteors in the NBL1 North competition, where in seven seasons (2013–2015, 2021–2024), he led them to an outstanding 104-34 record (75%) and multiple championships, including the NBL1 North titles in 2021 and 2024. In 2024, the Meteors reached the NBL1 National Championship game, finishing with a 20-3 record and the #2 ranking in Australia.

Khalu has earned recognition as QBL Coach of the Year in 2015 and NBL1 North Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2024, making him the first person to win the award three times since its inception in 2001. Over his 18 seasons as both a player and coach, Khalu has appeared in 12 Grand Finals, winning 9 Queensland League championships—the most by any individual in the 38-year history of the men’s competition.

In addition to his club success, Khalu is passionate about developing the next generation of international basketball talent. As Assistant Coach of the Australian Emus Junior National Team, appointed in January 2022, he helped guide the team to gold medals at the 2024 U18 FIBA Asia Cup in Jordan and the 2023 U17 FIBA Oceania Championships in Papua New Guinea. He also coached the Queensland Under 20 men’s team to an undefeated victory at the 2022 Australian Junior National Championship.