Former UConn men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie, who led the Huskies to the 2014 national championship, has been linked as a candidate to fill the head coaching position with the Detroit Pistons since it opened.
Adam basketball player Zagoria reported May 18th, during the NBA Draft Combine, the job is expected to come down to New Orleans Pelicans assistant Ollie O. Jaron Collins. Charles Lee, the assistant head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, who fired their president Mike Bodenholzer after an early playoff exit, is the third name in the mix.
Shams Al-ShaaraniyyahAn NBA insider reports to The Athletic that the finalists Ole, Collins and Lee were all set to meet the Pistons earlier this month.
Ole isIt is widely considered a favourite Troy Weaver, Detroit General Manager,” reports Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fisher.
The position was opened after Dwayne Casey decided to move from the role to the front office for the Pistons after the 17-65 season—the fourth consecutive year for the organization to have missed the playoffs. Detroit entered the 2022-23 NBA season as the youngest team in the league, with an average age of just over 25, and is slated to make a third-best five pick in the past four seasons.
“I think he would be a great fit for that organization,” he said. Jason Gortman, who played for Ollie for two years in the Overtime Elite, a league that compensates players who want to train for the pros without going to college. “Most young guys, they don’t understand business and he’s one of those coaches that he’s been through – he’s had to earn everything in his career. That’s his motto, he instills that in every player he deals with.”
Gortman is a 2023 NBA draft prospect in the Overtime Elite program — Amen and Ausar Thompson, also coached by Ole, could become the first twins to be drafted in the top 10 of the same draft.
“We got more development [at OTE]Amen Thompson he told CBS Sports. “More hours, more time in the gym, more opportunities, more time to work on some of our weaknesses. Some guys in college or elsewhere have a certain amount of time to adapt and learn, but we can stay in the gym.” The whole day “.
Ole, who spent most of that time in the gym with them, starred as a point guard at UConn from 1991 to 1995 and began his 13-year NBA career with a series of 10-day contracts. He was said to be a locker room mentor to young players like Kevin Durant and LeBron James.
After retiring as a player in 2010, Ollie spent two years as an assistant at UConn under Jim Calhoun and took over the head job when Calhoun retired in 2012.
UConn went 20-10 in his first season under Ollie, then won the program’s fourth national title in 2014 and made a tournament appearance in 2015-16. Back-to-back losing seasons followed, a number of players were transferred and the program was investigated for NCAA infractions, ultimately resulting in an initial expulsion by the university for “just cause” in March 2018. It was later ruled in arbitration that UConn should pay $11.1 million. $3.9 million on his contract and an additional $3.9 million to cover reputational damages and legal fees.
Ollie was named Head of Coaching and Basketball Development for the Overtime Elite in April 2021, leaving the position in March 2023.
“He was one of those guys who was in my corner and told me I had to be one of those guys to win everything,” Gortman told The Courant at the NBA Draft Combine. “He was one of the mentors and coaches who instilled that in me, to keep winning everything, and when I go out on the field, I have the same mentality I always had.”
But can Gortman picture Ollie as an NBA head coach?
Without thinking, he said, “Sure.” “Ko, he’s a great coach man. People don’t know but he gets the best out of his players, on the field, off the field. He’ll take you out to dinner. He makes sure you’re good on a mental level, on a physical level. KO has been a big part of the journey.” in Overtime Elite”.