he helped guard Kemba Walker produce one of the most spectacular individual seasons in UConn history in leading the Huskies to the program’s third national championship. Last year culminated in another NCAA appearance and another UConn guard, Jeremy Lamb, drafted as an NBA lottery selection. “Kevin Ollie epitomizes what we want a UConn athlete, a UConn student, to be all about. When you say that about somebody, that’s heavy stuff,” Calhoun said. “Any fox hole you need to jump in, there’s your guy. Any time you need a person who won’t quit, there’s your guy.” This season, Ollie will use his basketball knowledge as a head coach for the first time, but his coaching philosophy is about more than the game. “I want to get victories, but I also want to present our team the way it should be presented --- with strength, with character, with discipline, with focus, with an appetite and the integrity to get better,” Ollie said. “It’s not about Xs and Os, it’s not about winning and losing, it’s about these men becoming special people. When they leave here, judge me on that.” Born in Dallas on Dec. 27, 1972, and raised in Los Angeles, Ollie resides in Glastonbury with wife Stephanie, who is also a UConn grad (‘97), and their two children, son Jalen, 16, and daughter Cheyenne, 11.
Kevin Ollie’s NBA Coaches Orlando - -- Chuck Daly Dallas --- Jim Cleamons Orlando --- Chuck Daly Sacramento --- Rick Adelman Philadelphia --- Larry Brown New Jersey --- Byron Scott Indiana --- Isiah Thomas Chicago --- Bill Cartwright Seattle --- Nate McMillan Milwaukee --- George Karl Cleveland --- Paul Silas Philadelphia --- Jim O’Brien Philadelphia --- Maurice Cheeks Minnesota --- Randy Wittman Minnesota --- Kevin McHale Oklahoma City --- Scott Brooks
Larry Brown
Chuck Daly
Glen Miller
Associate Head Coach Beginning his 10th season overall on the UConn staff, and his third since he returned to UConn in 2010-11, Glen Miller will assume the duties of Associate Head Coach under new Head Coach Kevin Ollie. Miller rejoined Coach Jim Calhoun’s UConn staff in 2010-11 as Director of Basketball Administration following 17 years of head coaching experience at Connecticut College, Brown University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Last year, he moved into the role of fulltime assistant coach and was an integral part of practice work, game strategy, and recruiting. Miller’s Division I head coaching experience began at Brown in 1999-2000, where his teams set school records for wins in a two-, three-, four-, and five-year span, as well as most Ivy League wins in a season. He recruited and developed 10 all-conference players and the League’s 2004 Player of the Year. Following seven years in Providence, Miller was hired as head coach of the prestigious program at Penn in 2006. He led the Quakers to the Ivy League Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2006-
07, setting the school record for most Ivy League wins by a firstyear coach. He spent three full years and part of a fourth as the Penn head coach. Previous to taking over at Brown, Miller enjoyed a highly-successful span as head coach at Division III Connecticut College. In six seasons, beginning in 1993, Miller led Conn College to unprecedented heights, including a 28-1 record, a No. 3 national ranking, and a berth in the Division III Final Four in 1998-99. In 17 seasons as a head coach, Miller compiled 233 victories. A native of Groton, Conn., where he starred at Fitch High School, Miller played for two seasons at UConn, then played two seasons for Calhoun at Northeastern. He joined Calhoun’s first staff at UConn in 1986 and worked with the Huskies for seven seasons before being named head coach at Conn College in 1993. Born 8/20/1961, Miller and his wife Yvonne reside in Mansfield and are the parents of four children: Tony, Genelle, Jillian (a UConn junior), and Emma.
George Blaney Assistant Coach
Bringing a wealth of coaching experience to Coach Kevin Ollie’s staff, George Blaney is beginning his 12th season at UConn and has logged over 43 years as a college coach. He served as associate head coach for the past five seasons at UConn, taking charge of the team on those occasions when Jim Calhoun was incapacitated. Since Blaney joined UConn, the Huskies have a 278-102 record, captured six BIG EAST championships, made 10 NCAA appearances, three trips to the Final Four, and won two national championships. Blaney, a 2003 inductee into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame, brought more than 30 years of coaching experience with him when he came to UConn, including two seasons at Stonehill, three years at Dartmouth, and 22 years at Holy Cross, his alma mater, where he won 357 games, posted seven 20-win seasons, and made eight postseason appearances. He also was head coach for three years at Seton Hall in the BIG EAST before leaving to become the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the International Basketball League. Blaney returned to college coach-
ing in 2000-01 as an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island before joining Calhoun at UConn the following year. In 30 years as a collegiate head coach, Blaney compiled an impressive 461-383 overall record. A native of Jersey City, N.J., Blaney was an All-New England player at Holy Cross, where he scored 1,012 points. After he graduated in 1961, he was drafted in the fourth round of the NBA Draft by the N.Y. Knicks and played the 1961-62 season with the team. Born 11/12/1939, Blaney and his wife Maryellen have two daughters and three sons, and five grandchildren.
• Kevin Ollie is the first new head coach at UConn in 26 years and only the 4th UConn coach in the last 43 years.