LSU men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones again chose a coach with vast NBA experience to complete his staff for the 2015-16 season.
Suhr also worked under former NBA coaches Hubie Brown and Lenny Wilkens, who, like Daly, are in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
The 64-year-old Suhr spent more than 25 years in the NBA and was on the bench for more than 2,500 games with the Atlanta Hawks (1979-88), Pistons (1988-92, 2000-01), New Jersey Nets (1992-94), Toronto Raptors (1996-97), Orlando Magic (1997-99) and New York Knicks (2004-07). He was the head scout for the USA’s “Dream Team” that won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games, and he served an assistant coach for the NBA All-Star Games in 1988 and 1990.
He also was Detroit’s vice president/director of player personnel (1999-2000) and was the Knicks’ director of player personnel during his three-year stay there. Along the way, Suhr helped coach Hall of Famers Adrian Dantley, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Isiah Thomas and Dominique Wilkins.
More recently, Suhr, the founder and president of the speaking and consulting firm Off the Court, has been part of the Central Florida coaching staff since 2010. In addition to his duties as an assistant coach, he also served as director of program development.
Suhr will be on hand when the Tigers begin 10 allotted practice days this weekend in advance of their exhibition tour of Australia. LSU leaves Aug. 11 and will play five games against teams from Australia’s National Basketball League as well as area pro all-star teams.
“We are very excited with the addition of coach Brendan Suhr to our coaching staff,” Jones said in a university news release. “He brings a great deal of experience with a wealth of knowledge that will certainly be very beneficial and impactful for our LSU basketball program and players. We look forward to him starting here this week as we begin to prepare for our upcoming trip and games in Australia.”
“I had seen LSU play a lot in the past year, and I’ve been watching them since Johnny has been back for his three years,” Suhr said. “I’m very impressed with what he has done with this program. Philosophically, in our visits over the last month, we are totally on the same page, basketballwise.”
In addition to his college coaching experience with Central FLorida, Suhr, who played collegiately at Montclair State in New Jersey, was on the staff at the University of Detroit and Fairfield before beginning his NBA career with the Hawks.
Via – Sheldon Mickles, The Advocate