Nets hire Kevin Ollie among assistant coaches for Jacque Vaughn’s staff
NEW YORK — Kevin Ollie, who guided UConn to a national championship, was among five assistants hired Tuesday by the Brooklyn Nets for Jacque Vaughn’s first full season as coach.
Will Weaver, Jay Hernandez and Ronnie Burrell also were added to the staff, while Corey Vinson was hired as assistant coach for player development.
Ollie led the Huskies to the 2014 NCAA title, and most recently he has been the head of coaching and basketball development for two seasons for the Overtime Elite program that is expected to have twin brothers Amen and Ausar Thompson as top-10 picks in the NBA draft on Thursday.
Ollie was a candidate for the Detroit Pistons’ head coaching job before they hired Monty Williams.
Weaver and Burrell have both coached the Nets’ NBA G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. Hernandez spent the last five seasons with the Charlotte Hornets as their assistant coach for player
Victor Wembanyama has long been earmarked to be the No. 1 overall selection in the NBA draft, a player so unique that he defies traditional categorization.
He headlines The Associated Press’ list of big men in the draft with a 7-foot-3 frame that could eventually help him dominate inside to go with his perimeter skills.
The AP previously noted the top guard prospects in the draft, along with forwards and international players to watch. Here’s a look at the top big-men likely to hear their names called Thursday night:
STRENGTHS: An incomparable combination of skills and size have made the French star a generational prospect with can’t-miss expectations unseen since LeBron James. He can roam the perimeter, handle the ball and shoot off the dribble like a guard, but his length helps him score over defenders inside along with racking up blocks and deflections. And with San Antonio holding the top pick, he’ll soon be under the tutelage of a five-time NBA champion in Gregg Popovich.
Among his countless highlights, one play from April stands out: the sight of Wembanyama missing an off-the-dribble stepback 3-pointer — only to fly in and tip dunk his own miss.
CONCERNS: Essentially none. The 19-year-old could probably stand to add strength to handle physical defenders.
STRENGTHS: The lean 7-foot-1 freshman arrived at Duke as 247sports’ No. 2-ranked national recruit and came on in the season’s second half as a strong rim protector nimble enough to defend in open space. He ranked ninth nationally in blocked shots (2.41). The highlight came in a February win against rival North Carolina, when the first-round prospect dominated while scoring just four points thanks to 14 rebounds and eight blocks.
“I’ve seen him really change highschool games or AAU games with doing the same thing,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said afterward. “Usually bigs are so hungry to score. That’s not necessarily the most efficient play or the best play for him.”
CONCERNS: The 19-year-old wasn’t a dominant rebounder despite his length (5.4 average, six double-digit outings in 34 games). His offensive game was limited beyond putbacks and alley-oops, including a scoreless game with no shot attempts in 36 minutes against a physical Tennessee team as Duke fell in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. Adding bulk to a 230-pound frame could help both areas.
STRENGTHS: The Indiana senior was an Associated Press All-America first-team pick mixing reliability, versatility and athleticism. He ranked sixth in Division I in rebounding (10.8) and eighth in double-doubles (18) while also ranking in the top 20 in scoring (20.9) with multiple post moves. And he stepped up his production heading into the March spotlight, development.
Vaughn replaced Steve Nash early last season and eventually was promoted to full-time coach and later given a contract extension. Adam Caporn, Trevor Hendry and Ryan Forehan-Kelly remain as assistants on his staff.
averaging 24.7 points on 61.5% shooting in his final six games.
Defensively, he ranked fourth nationally in blocked shots (2.88) with a 7-1 wingspan, making him a well-rounded interior presence who could hear his name called in the back half of the first round.
CONCERNS: He’s a bit undersized (6-8, 240) for an interior-focused player who has shown little outside of 15 feet. He’s a career 67.6% shooter at the foul line who never hit 70% in a season, and his 3-point history consists entirely of going 0 for 3 as a junior. He also is one of the oldest prospects at 23 years old.
NOAH CLOWNEY. The 6-10, 210pound freshman became an every-game starter for an Alabama team that was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAAs. Turning 19 next month, Clowney averaged 9.9 points and offers potential as a rebounder (8.0) with the ability to step outside (eight games with multiple made 3s). That could help him land in the late first round.
JAMES NNAJI: The center from Nigeria turns 19 in August and has been playing in Spain, where his team lists him as 6-11 and 249 pounds. He offers intrigue as a raw developmental prospect with a 7-5 wingspan and defensive potential. Some mock drafts have him sneaking into the first round.
ADAMA SANOGO. The junior powered Connecticut to a fifth NCAA championship as the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. He’s a bit undersized for a big (roughly 6-7 without shoes at the NBA combine) and is a second-round prospect, but he has a strong frame (roughly 255 pounds) and added a stepoutside element to his game last year by making 19 of 52 3-pointers (36.5%). His nearly 7-3 wingspan measured fifthbest at the combine.
OSCAR TSHIEBWE. The senior from Kentucky rode a relentless-rebounding mindset into being named as AP men’s national player of the year in 2022 and a second-team All-American in 2023. It’s unclear whether the 23-year-old — measuring roughly 6-7 and 255 pounds with a a better than 7-3 wingspan at the NBA combine — will be drafted. But he averaged nationalbests of 15.1 rebounds in 2022 and 13.7 in 2023 while racking up 48 double-doubles, so his motor might intrigue a team to take a flier. franchises are pushing $1 billion and arenas aren’t much cheaper. Another is NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, for whom spreading the NHL’s footprint has been a 30-year effort and who has worked to keep the Coyotes in Arizona.
There’s corporate support, driving advertising and buying season tickets. And there is the not-small matter of an arena.
The 48-year-old XL Center was already falling behind NHL standards when the Whalers left for Raleigh. The state and the arena’s operator have a deal for $100 million in renovations, but that won’t be enough to make it an NHL building.
“I don’t tell you this to be negative,” Baldwin said. “Can you do something with the existing arena? Maybe like Seattle, where they lifted the roof.”
Private funding in Seattle turned 1962’s Key Arena into 2021’s modern Climate Pledge Arena for a reported $1.15 billion. The former Staples Center in Los Angeles just went through a reported “nine-figure” renovation, again with private money. Madison Square Garden’s “transformation” went to 10 figures a decade ago.
“The world has changed a lot since the ‘70s, the ‘80s, and (Richard) Gordon had the team in the ‘90s,” Baldwin said. “The arena world has changed.
“When I hear ‘we can upgrade the arena for $80 million,’ it’s not possible.”
Baldwin said he and his wife have gone to AHL games at Acrisure Arena, which opened last year just outside Palm Springs, Calif.; its Coachella Valley Firebirds are playing the Hershey remain on campus until late June/early July. They’ll all return on Aug. 7 to practice and prepare ahead of the team’s European trip scheduled for Aug. 15-25.
After back-to-back seasons plagued by injuries and gutting losses, Auriemma is hoping things will be different in 20232024.
“It’s remarkable that we ended up getting where we’ve gotten. So, when you think about it, if we are fortunate enough to have everybody all season long, I couldn’t even tell you what’s the potential because I haven’t seen it,” Auriemma said. “… But if you just go by how committed they are right now and the intensity level and the energy level and just the vibe that’s going through the building, it’s at a different level than it has been the last couple of years.”
The Huskies have been without their biggest star for nearly the last two seasons.
Paige Bueckers, the 2021 National Player of the Year, sat out the entire 2022-23 season recovering from an ACL injury. The guard also missed 19 games the year prior due to a separate knee injury and was on her way to returning when she injured her knee again last August during a pickup game on campus.
The redshirt junior told media last week that she’s been cleared to fully participate in the team’s summer workouts, except for liveaction five-on-five drills. Auriemma said not only does his star pupil look stronger on the court, but that he’s also noticed a new maturity in her.
“This is the best she’s ever been. The strongest she’s ever been. The fittest she’s ever been. This is the most time she has spent working on her body, her mind, you know, just taking care of
Bears in the Calder Cup Finals.
“It’s a beautiful arena, 10,000 seats,” Baldwin said, “ribbons (scoreboards/displays) running around the arena, mid-level boxes, all the things that are meaningful to a team.”
It cost a reported $500 million, double the original estimate.
Baldwin, “off the top of my head,” said an arena should probably go closer to the shoreline to draw better from the moneyed class in Fairfield County.
Kaiton sees the success of Whalers reunions at Hartford Yard Goats baseball games and understands that a passion remains for an NHL team that left over a quarter-century ago. He knows that those people want the NHL back.
“I don’t make those decisions. It’s easy for me to say. I’m talking with my heart,” Kaiton said.
“My heart says I’d love to see it. I had a great 18 years there. I’ll always have a soft spot for it. That’s where I started my NHL career as a broadcaster.”
Ticket sales drove revenue when Baldwin ran the Whalers, he said, and he said he thinks it’s still a good market; the fan base was ravenous when the team had its most success in the mid-1980s, but attendance dwindled with results and an uncertain future in the 1990s.
Now a myriad of other revenue streams contribute. But he still gets sticker shock when he gets tickets to Los Angeles Kings games and sees a three-figure price.
“The season-ticket market is different now,” Baldwin said. “Prices now are so high, obviously. It’s very hard for one person to buy two season tickets, let alone four.
herself,” he said. “I think she’s way ahead and maybe that’s what the year off did. It showed her if you want a long career, this is how you’re going to have to go about it from here on out. Injuries or no injuries, it doesn’t matter.
“This is what you’re going to have to do. And she’s embraced it. And I’ve never seen her better either as playing one-on-one, twoon-two or three-on-three. What she’s doing in the weight room, just her whole walk, the way she walks around, the way everybody looks up to her and the way everybody hangs on every word she says.”
While Bueckers isn’t sure yet if she’ll feel ready to return to the court during the team’s European trip, both she and Auriemma expect her to be ready for the start of the season.
“If she’s not ready to go, then I’m not ready to go,” Auriemma joked.
Also on the comeback trail is redshirt freshman Ice Brady, who also sat out all last season due to dislocated patella. Auriemma is looking forward to using Brady down low, but also out along the perimeter.
Despite both Bueckers and Brady wrapping up their rehab, the Huskies haven’t fully escaped the injury bug just yet.
Amari DeBerry is recovering from a May 5 back surgery to repair a herniated disc — something Auriemma said has been bothering the junior for the last year. Ayanna Patterson is also on the mend after undergoing a knee procedure last week. While Auriemma did not state specifics of Patterson’s procedure, he did say it was “reminiscent of what Morgan Tuck had years ago.”
As a sophomore, Tuck had cartilage inserted in her knee after suffering a bone bruise on the same knee as a freshman.
Auriemma said he doesn’t expect Patterson to be ready to go for the team’s
“You have to fragment the season-ticket base. With 41 games now, you probably need four people for that one ticket. You need a bigger market.”
Selling all those partialseason plans requires more salespeople. Baldwin estimated that front offices are five or six times bigger than when he ran the Whalers.
“You have to grind that market,” Baldwin said.
That’s millions in salary and benefits for the staff alone. And players? CapFriendly.com, a website that compiles salary information, projects an NHL salary floor for 2023-24 of $61.7 million.
When the Whalers came to Hartford, Baldwin said, local government supported the team.
“There was a wonderful confluence of business guys, of the corporate community, the city council and the state coming together and making sure we succeeded,” Baldwin said.
(Things were different, he said, when he took over management of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack in 2010 and rebranded them as the Connecticut Whale, bringing back Whalers colors. The Rangers changed the name back after Baldwin’s departure in 2013.)
It’ll take similar teamwork, he said, even to begin to understand if an NHL return is even conceivable, if these and other obstacles can even be overcome.
“You never want to say ‘never,’” Baldwin said. “That’s not the way dreams work.
“But you’ve got to get a task force together, corporate communication, the state, the city governments and say ‘this is what we want to have happen. How do we make it happen?”
four exhibition games during its European trip, but he does expect her to be ready for the start of the season.
“I can honestly say that every one of the kids that has been out for us came to us with an injury that led to the one they got from high school,” Auriemma said. “So, it wasn’t like they came in here 100% And then all of a sudden something. Every one of them had an issue coming from high school and never got taken care of or in some cases, there was surgery involved. …
“All of our postseason, preseason all of that work is individual and strengthen conditioning, injuryprevention stuff exercises. That’s basically all you do during this time of the year. … We’ve had to change what we do drastically because the kids that were getting coming out of high school are damaged.”
Five of UConn’s 14 rostered players have yet to play a game of collegiate basketball. Yet, the three true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen have impressed Auriemma with how they’ve responded so far in workouts.
Redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy will make her UConn debut this fall after enrolling a semester early in January to get a head start on learning the Husky system.
“My guess is that there’s going to be a lot of surprised people when you see her play,” Auriemma said. “… She’s here for a purpose. She’s on a mission and her body has changed in the time that she’s been here. Her game is improving every day and her physicality is so impressive.”
With Bueckers back in the starting lineup running point guard, Auriemma’s team will look different than it has the past couple seasons. The Huskies will have depth in the backcourt and be led down low by senior and Third-Team All-American Aaliyah Edwards.