Sources: Nets hiring Ollie as assistant coach

The Brooklyn Nets are hiring Kevin Ollie as an assistant coach, sources told ESPN on Saturday.

Ollie, who won an NCAA championship as Connecticut’s coach in 2014, had been a finalist for the Detroit Pistons‘ head-coaching job this spring.

Ollie joins a reshaped coaching staff for Jacque Vaughn’s first full season as the Nets coach. Ollie spent the past two years as head of coaching and player development for the Overtime Elite program in Atlanta that has become a premier feeder program for professional basketball.

After going undrafted out of UConn, Ollie spent 13 seasons in the NBA and built a reputation as a trusted leader and teammate.

In September, Ollie and UConn agreed on a settlement of $3.9 million in a potential federal race discrimination suit that he had considered against UConn. That payout included claimed reputational damages and attorney’s fees to end what had been a lengthy legal battle between UConn and Ollie since his firing in 2018 for allegedly violating NCAA rules.