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Anthony Puccio: Nets have named Steve Hetzel, Juwan Howard, Deividas Dulkys, Connor Griffin and Travis Bader as assistant coaches on Head Coach Jordi Fernández’s staff. They join Jay Hernandez, Adam Caporn, Ryan Forehan-Kelly and Corey Vinson.
Kevin Ollie won't return to Nets
Michael Scotto: Sources: Nets will have Steve Hetzel (lead assistant), Juwan Howard and Jay Hernandez on the front bench of Jordi Fernandez’s staff. Kevin Ollie, Will Weaver and Ronnie Burrell won’t return. Ollie was interim coach. Weaver (2019) and Burrell (2023) won G League Coach of the Year pic.twitter.com/NZ6cUzsl9r
But with Ollie coming from Overtime Elite (and a 2014 NCAA title at UConn), Weaver and Burrell having both won G League Coach of the Year with the Long Island Nets, and Vinson having been a player development coach in Phoenix, it’s clear development was an important priority, though not the only one. “I don’t want to diminish the assistants that way, because these are some high-level dudes. My approach with the assistants was where they could do it all,” Vaughn said. “Will Weaver has been a head coach abroad, but also was around a young team in Houston. Jay Hernandez has been around a young team in Charlotte, but also coached in the G League.
Marc J. Spears: The Brooklyn Nets name Kevin Ollie, Will Weaver, Jay Hernandez and Ronnie Burrell as assistant coaches and Corey Vinson as assistant coach/player development to Head Coach Jacque Vaughn's staff.
Jay Hernandez joins Jacque Vaughn's staff in Brooklyn
Michael Scotto: The Brooklyn Nets are adding Jay Hernandez as an assistant coach to Jacque Vaughn’s staff, league sources told @hoopshype. Hernandez previously worked as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Hornets and was on Vaughn’s staff with the Orlando Magic as a player development coach.
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Tyrone Corbin joins Hornets staff
Charlotte Hornets President of Basketball Operations & General Manager Mitch Kupchak announced today that the team has added Tyrone Corbin, Bob Beyer, Rex Walters, Bruce Kruetzer and Brian O’Connor to Steve Clifford’s staff. Additionally, the team has retained assistant coaches Marlon Garnett, Jay Hernandez, Nick Friedman and Norman Richardson.
Scotto: It’s also worth noting that one of the guys on Charlotte’s staff as an assistant coach, Jay Hernandez, who also wrote a G League Bubble Diary for HoopsHype, quietly was a finalist for the Hofstra University men’s basketball head coaching position that ultimately went to Speedy Claxton, leaguesources told HoopsHype.
Jay Hernandez: Obviously, it was being away from loved ones, but the hardest technical part was never turning the switch off. Trying to teach eight rookies through games, building chemistry through quarantine, having to organize practices, figure out rest times, scheduling, game preparation, previous game evaluation, team film, individual film, written reports, player development, managing emotions and more. There was no outlet to get away so you were in it 100 percent. When I got home, I finally decompressed and fell asleep watching television and went to bed by 10 pm when my average sleep time in the bubble was 2:30 am.
Jay Hernandez: The talks I’ve had with the Hornets staff, coach James Borrego and management have allowed me to continue to be decisive and confident in the messaging that I have been providing the team. Mitch Kupchak and Larry Jordan came and got to see four games. Their presence in the gym was a great sign of support and commitment to the development we have invested in with the Hornets.
Jay Hernandez: On top of having one of the best bigs in Vernon Carey, we were able to add another in Nick Richards who finally got to play his first game last Sunday. He entered the bubble and left after one day to rejoin the Hornets so having him back adds frontcourt depth that has really helped elevate our team.
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Jay Hernandez: The time has finally arrived. The NBA G league bubble is officially going to happen in Orlando, Florida. We will be staying at Coronado Springs in Walt Disney World and get to play at least 15 games. Due to the times that we are in, the health and safety of everyone entering the bubble is paramount. All of the Greensboro Swarm staff and players going to Orlando must first come to Charlotte and quarantine for seven days. Everyone gets tested daily, be isolated in their rooms and finding ways to pass the time. After the seventh day, we’re off to Orlando where we will have to quarantine for four more days. As the head coach of the team, it is my responsibility to make sure that I am collaborating with the staff to ensure the players are staying as active as possible.
Jay Hernandez: With the help of the Hornets staff, we were able to put together binders with key defensive and offensive terminology, along with sets, a motivational section and an area where they can take notes and draw plays on blank diagrams. Our mantra is the “Fighter Mentality” so we got rubber bracelets made with that saying on it. Everyone also got a book from a former professional Muay Thai Champion, called Chap Up by Chris Romulo. The book reinforced to our players that no matter the circumstances you always have a choice. You can stay down or continue to fight and change the narrative. Everything about this past year has been a fight – from social justice, Covid, not being able to do what we love or being able to see loved ones and more. We want our players to know that getting to this point hasn’t been easy and to appreciate this opportunity the G league has presented and that the Hornets have invested in. The quote that we have been saying is, “appreciation for what you have will make you fight harder to keep it”.
But when James Borrego mentioned he was strongly considering adding an assistant coach he was familiar with from their days together in Orlando to his new staff with the Hornets, Kemba Walker was downright giddy. He could barely hold back the tidal wave of enthusiasm racing through his 28-year-old body as the name “Jay Hernandez” rolled off Borrego’s tongue. “I was excited just because I lost my whole coaching staff, guys who I was used to for the last four years,” Walker told The Athletic. “And Jay is a guy who makes me comfortable and I just know what he brings. So for me, shit I was excited man. I was super happy to have him around because they brought in a guy that I know, that knows me. I know him and it’s been a long time since I worked with him. But yeah man, it was exciting because I couldn’t work with him in the summer when he was in Orlando. So that sucked for a very long time. To get back with him, I was hyped.”
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