The Sages of College Basketball: Older Coaches Helping Glory Day Hires

The roles for these assistant coaches vary by program. Sometimes, they are asked to be a cooler head in intense situations. During a recent game against Duke at Madison Square Garden, his old stamping grounds, Ewing was on the verge of an ejection for arguing with the referees over what he thought was a phantom foul call. It was his former teammate Orr who stepped in front of Ewing and kept the peace.

“Louis Orr has been an integral part of our program and our success,” Ewing said. “All of my assistants have been in college sports for a lot of years, while my background is more in the N.B.A. So I can lean on them for the things that I need to learn about the college game, like recruiting, even though on the court we run more N.B.A.-type stuff.”

“So he’s been an important part of our family, even if he used to wear the orange,” Ewing added, referring to Orr’s college days at rival Syracuse.

At Michigan, Martelli has been important to the team for his knowledge about the logistics of running a program.

He was perhaps the most successful coach in the history of St. Joseph’s when he was unceremoniously fired at the end of last season after 24 years with the team. Because of his personality, he had offers to go into television, but he felt he was not done with coaching. He realized his phone would not ring on its own, and started asking friends about assistant gigs in the Power 5 conferences.

Howard was hired at Michigan in May after John Beilein left the program for the N.B.A., becoming the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Word circulated in coaching circles that Howard was looking for an experienced hand to help him. Kentucky Coach John Calipari reached out to Martelli to gauge his interest, and Martelli jumped at the opportunity.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/sports/ncaabasketball/college-basketball-assistant-coaches.html?emc=rss&partner=rss