Kevin Ollie

Kevin Ollie

Ollie in May 2014
Connecticut Huskies
Position	Head coach
League	American Athletic Conference
Personal information
Born	(1972-12-27) December 27, 1972 Dallas, Texas
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school	Crenshaw (Los Angeles, California)
College	Connecticut (1991–1995)
NBA draft	1995 / Undrafted
Playing career	1995–2010
Position	Point guard
Number	3, 15, 5, 2, 12, 8, 7
Career history
As player:
1995–1997	Connecticut Pride (CBA)
1997	Dallas Mavericks
1998	Orlando Magic
1999	Sacramento Kings
1999	Orlando Magic
1999–2000	Philadelphia 76ers
2000	New Jersey Nets
2000–2001	Philadelphia 76ers
2001–2002	Chicago Bulls
2002	Indiana Pacers
2002–2003	Milwaukee Bucks
2003	Seattle SuperSonics
2003–2004	Cleveland Cavaliers
2004–2008	Philadelphia 76ers
2008–2009	Minnesota Timberwolves
2009–2010	Oklahoma City Thunder
As coach:
2010–2012	Connecticut (assistant)
2012–present	Connecticut
Career highlights and awards
As coach: NCAA champion (2014) Regional Championship – Final Four (2014)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Kevin Jermaine Ollie (born December 27, 1972) is an American basketball coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the University of Connecticut men's basketball team. Ollie graduated from Connecticut in 1995 with a degree in Communications. He played for twelve National Basketball Association franchises, most prominently in three stints with the Philadelphia 76ers, in thirteen seasons from 1997 to 2010 after beginning his career with the CBA in 1995. In 2014, Ollie won a national championship as head coach of the University of Connecticut Men's Basketball Team.

Early life

Ollie was born in Dallas, Texas to parents Fletcher and Dorothy Ollie and grew up in the rough neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles. When Ollie was 7, his parents divorced and his father moved to Dallas. He spent summers there, cutting lawns and doing other odd jobs so he could be with him for some length of time. His mother, a school teacher and ordained minister, raised him and his older sisters, Vita and Rhonda, by herself.

Playing career

Ollie attended and played basketball at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, California. He then starred for four seasons (1991–95) at the University of Connecticut. After his college graduation, he joined the Connecticut Pride of the Continental Basketball Association, playing with them from 1995 to 1997. After that, he began playing in the NBA.

In the 2005–06 season, Ollie was given a starting role by Sixers head coach Maurice Cheeks. The Minnesota Timberwolves made Ollie their captain during the 2008–09 season. He was then signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder on August 1, 2009 for the veteran's minimum. After the season Ollie retired to join the Connecticut Huskies as an assistant coach.

NBA player Kevin Durant in an interview with Grantland said that Kevin Ollie (who played for Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009-2010) "taught him the ropes", and "changed the culture of Oklahoma City". He also said, “Kevin Ollie, he was a game changer for us. I think he changed the whole culture in Oklahoma City. Just his mind set, professionalism, every single day. And we all watched that, and we all wanted to be like that. It rubbed off on Russell Westbrook, myself, Jeff Green, James Harden. And then everybody who comes through now, it’s the standard that you’ve got to live up to as a Thunder player. And it all started with Kevin Ollie.”

Ollie had previously played a similar role with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jim Paxson, Cavaliers GM at the time, recalled his motivation for signing Ollie: "We thought he could come in and be a bridge for us at the point guard position," Paxson recalled, "and also be a good influence on our younger players, the primary one being LeBron James." Paxson cited Ollie's "professionalism and approach to the game" as qualities the team valued.

Coaching career

In 2012, Ollie was named the head basketball coach at Connecticut, replacing longtime hall of fame coach Jim Calhoun. During his college career, Ollie had played under Calhoun. He also served as an assistant coach for Calhoun's final two seasons at UConn. As an assistant coach in 2011, Ollie helped guide the Huskies to a record 11 straight postseason wins which included winning 5 games in 5 nights to win the Big East Tournament Championship and winning the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. On December 29, 2012, UConn and Ollie agreed to a five-year deal.

The Huskies ended their first season under Ollie 20-10 overall and 8th in Big East play (10-8). The team was ineligible for postseason play because of an NCAA ban resulting from a low APR score several seasons prior.

On December 2, 2013 the Huskies defeated Florida, after which they were ranked #9. The Huskies finished 3rd in the AAC, and defeated Memphis and Cincinnati until losing to Louisville in the AAC Championship game. Connecticut earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament with a #7 seed, and defeated #10-seeded Saint Joseph's, #2-seeded Villanova, #3-seeded Iowa State, and #4-seeded Michigan State to become the first #7 seed to reach the Final Four since the tournament expanded in 1985.

On April 5, 2014, the Huskies defeated top-ranked Florida in the First Final Four national semifinal of the NCAA Tournament 63-53. The Huskies then defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 60-54 in the championship game on April 7 for Connecticut's fourth NCAA men's championship in fifteen years.

On May 22, 2014, Ollie signed a new five-year contract with UConn, worth $2.8 million per year.

Awards and honors

ESPN is doing a series on the Top 50 college hoops coaches—the best NCAA men's basketball coaches right now. Ollie is tenth best on the list. Although he is only in his second year of coaching, he started with a team subject to sanctions, unable to compete in the NCAA tournament, and still managed to complete the season with a 20–10 record, and followed that with a National Championship.

Personal life

Ollie is a Christian. During his NBA career, Ollie was actively involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Ollie's FCA chaplain stated, "There are very few guys in the NBA who are really sold out to the Lord like Kevin."

Ollie and his wife, Stephanie, have two children: son Jalen and daughter Cheyenne. Stephanie Ollie filed for divorce in January of 2015.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1997–98	Orlando	19	0	11.4	.411	.000	.689	.9	1.7	.4	.0	4.1
1998–99	Sacramento	7	0	9.7	.308	.000	.800	.9	.4	.4	.1	1.7
1998–99	Orlando	1	0	4.0	.000	.000	.500	1.0	.0	.0	.0	1.0
1999–00	Philadelphia	40	0	7.3	.449	.000	.757	.8	1.2	.3	.0	1.8
2000–01	New Jersey	19	0	8.5	.185	.000	.632	1.2	1.3	.3	.0	1.2
2000–01	Philadelphia	51	4	15.0	.430	.333	.729	1.4	2.4	.5	.0	3.8
2001–02	Chicago	52	17	22.0	.383	.500	.838	2.5	3.7	.7	.0	5.8
2001–02	Indiana	29	0	19.9	.400	.000	.804	1.9	3.4	.9	.0	5.4
2002–03	Milwaukee	53	4	21.3	.459	.200	.747	1.9	3.4	.7	.1	5.7
2002–03	Seattle	29	1	26.6	.441	1.000	.759	2.9	3.8	1.1	.0	8.0
2003–04	Cleveland	82	7	17.1	.370	.444	.835	2.1	2.9	.6	.1	4.2
2004–05	Philadelphia	26	0	6.1	.355	.000	.667	.7	.7	.2	.0	1.1
2005–06	Philadelphia	70	23	15.3	.431	.333	.837	1.4	1.4	.5	.0	2.7
2006–07	Philadelphia	53	23	17.3	.433	.100	.822	1.4	2.5	.4	.0	3.8
2007–08	Philadelphia	40	0	7.5	.420	.000	.800	.5	1.0	.3	.0	1.8
2008–09	Minnesota	50	21	17.0	.407	.000	.833	1.5	2.3	.4	.1	4.0
2009–10	Oklahoma City	25	0	10.5	.400	.000	1.000	1.0	0.8	.4	.0	1.8
Career		662	100	15.6	.410	.310	.792	1.5	2.3	.5	.0	3.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2000	Philadelphia	10	0	6.5	.500	.000	.889	.5	1.2	.2	.0	2.0
2001	Philadelphia	23	0	5.3	.370	.000	.929	.4	1.0	.0	.0	1.4
2002	Indiana	5	0	23.6	.423	.500	1.000	2.4	4.6	.6	.0	5.8
2008	Philadelphia	3	0	6.3	.250	.000	1.000	.3	1.0	.7	.0	1.3
2010	Oklahoma City	1	0	5.0	.000	.000	.000	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
Career		42	0	7.9	.406	.500	.935	.7	1.5	.2	.0	2.1

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Connecticut Huskies (Big East Conference) (2012–2013)
2012–13	Connecticut	20–10	10–8	T–7th	Ineligible
Connecticut Huskies (American Athletic Conference) (2013–present)
2013–14	Connecticut	32–8	12–6	T–3rd	NCAA Champions
2014–15	Connecticut	20–15	10–8	T–5th	NIT First Round
2015–16	Connecticut	11–4	2–1	5th
Connecticut:		83–37 (.692)	34–23 (.596)
Total:		83–37 (.692)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

External links

• Kevin Ollie profile at NBA.com