Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
According to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com, the Brooklyn Nets could target Kevin Ollie to be their new head coach.
The Nets are looking for a new head coach after firing Jacque Vaughn on Monday. Some within the organization reportedly feared that Vaughn would hinder stars from joining Brooklyn.
Ollie spent six seasons as the head coach of the University of Connecticut’s men’s basketball team. He coached the Huskies to a 32-8 record and the NCAA title in the 2013-14 season. Ollie and the Huskies defeated the University of Kentucky by six points in the title game thanks in part to the contributions of guard Shabazz Napier, who went on to play for six NBA teams — the Portland Trail Blazers, Nets, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards.
Across 39 minutes of action, he finished with a team-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and three steals while shooting 8-of-16 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3-point range. Ryan Boatright finished with the second-most points on the team with 14 and also chipped in four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
But after coaching the Huskies to the NCAA title, Ollie coached the team to just one more appearance in the NCAA Tournament during his final four seasons as the head coach. In each of his last two seasons with Connecticut, he failed to coach the team to a record above the .500 mark. The Huskies had a 16-17 record under him in the 2016-17 season and 14-18 record in the 2017-18 season, his last season as the head coach of the team.
Ollie has been linked to other NBA teams in the past. He was once considered one of the leading candidates to be the newest head coach of the Detroit Pistons back when the team was looking for one after the 2022-23 regular season came to an end. But the Pistons ended up hiring Monty Williams, who hasn’t helped Detroit win a lot of games so far in the 2023-24 regular season, evidenced by the team’s 8-46 record (the worst in the NBA).
It’s possible that the Nets will be connected to more folks than just Ollie in the coming days as the team searches for its replacement for Vaughn.
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