The Detroit Pistons will interview former UConn coach and 13-year NBA veteran Kevin Ollie for their head coaching job, according to a Friday tweet from The Athletic Senior lead NBA Insider Shams Charania.
“The Detroit Pistons will interview former University of Connecticut coach and 13-year NBA veteran Kevin Ollie for their head coaching job, sources tell me and @JLEdwardsIII,” wrote Charania. “Ollie guided UConn to the 2014 NCAA championship and recently finished coaching stint at Overtime Elite.”
The Detroit Pistons have also received permission to interview Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee for the franchise's head coaching job, according to ESPN Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski. Lee, Toronto Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin, Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn, and former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka made up the early candidates for the Pistons’ head coaching job.
Kevin Ollie, a former player for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, was hired as an assistant coach for UConn in 2010. Ollie took over as head coach in 2012 after Calhoun announced his retirement, leading UConn to a National Championship in 2014 when they took down the Kentucky Wildcats in AT&T Stadium. Guard Shabazz Napier led the Huskies with 22 points against Kentucky, hitting eight of his 16 shot attempts and four of his nine 3-pointers as UConn took down the Wildcats in a 60-54 victory.
“Somebody told me we were Cinderellas, and I was like, no, we're UConn,” Kevin Ollie said, via ESPN. “This is what we do. We are born for this. We're bred to cut down nets. We're not chasing championships. Championships are chasing us.”
Dwane Casey moved into a role with the Pistons' front office after Detroit finished with a 17-65 record in the 2022-23 season. The former Toronto Raptors head coach ended with a coaching record of 121-263 in five years with the Pistons. Casey won the NBA's Coach of the Year award in 2018.
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