Five things to know about Kevin Ollie
The Oklahoman is highlighting one Thunder head coaching candidate per day as the search for Billy Donovan's replacement continues.
Here are five things you need to know about Kevin Ollie:
Playing days
Ollie, who was born in Dallas and grew up in Los Angeles, headed across the country to play college basketball at UConn. He averaged 6.7 points and 5.0 assists per game in his four seasons (1991-95).
Ollie played in the Continental Basketball Association after going undrafted in 1995.
He made his NBA debut in 1997 with the Mavericks, beginning a 13- year career asa journey man guard. Ollie played for 11 franchises in 12 cities.
At 37, Ollie finished his career in Oklahoma City. He played 25 games for the Thunder in the 200910 season, averaging 10.5 minutes per game.
Mentor
Ollie's on-court contributions to the Thunder were minimal, but he proved to be a valuable mentor to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
“Kevin Ollie, he was a game- changer for us,” Durant told Bill Simmons in 2014. “He changed the whole culture, I think. He might not say it, but I think he changed the whole culture in Oklahoma City.”
“He' s a great role model,” Westbrook said.
“He di d a great j ob of coming in here and helping us become l eaders, myself and Kevin. Just taught us a lot of things.”
Previous candidate
Days before the Thunder fired Scott Brooks in April 2015, there were multiple reports that Ollie was a serious candidate for the job.
Ollie, then the head coach at UConn, issued a statement saying he had “no plans to pursue other opportunities.”
That didn't slow the speculation. Ollie was seen by many (including The Oklahoman) as the favorite to become the Thunder's next coach.
But Ollie remained at UConn, and the Thunder hired another college coach, by t he name of Billy Donovan.
Ugly ending
UConn hired Ollie in 2012 to replace hall of
fame coach Jim Calhoun, whom Ollie was an assistant under for two seasons.
In 2014, his second season as coach, Ollie guided the No .7 seed Huskies on are markable NCAA Tournament run that ended with a national championship win against Kentucky.
The Huskies missed the NCAA Tournament in three of the next four seasons following their 2014 title.
Ollie was fired in June 2018 following backto-back losing seasons and after the school found that Ollie violated NCAA recruiting rules, including improper training sessions and impermissible contact with recruits.
Because UConn fired Ollie with cause, as a result of the violations, the school stated it didn't have to honor the almost $10 million remaining on Ollie's contract.
Ollie's lawyer denied that there was just cause
and argued that Ollie would “prevail in arbitration.” The legal battle between Ollie and UConn is ongoing.
The NCAA dealt Ollie a three-year “show cause” penalty in July 2019 and placed U Con non two years of probation.
It was announced in May that Ollie lost his appeal to the NCAA regarding the show cause order.
Out of the game
Ollie, 47, hasn't held a coaching job since being dismissed by UConn.
“I'm still leaving the door open to coaching,” Ollie told the Hartford Courant last December. “I just want to get through this legal process and then really think about coaching.”
Ollie recently partne red with Modern Acupuncture, an Arizona-based company with locations across the country.