You keep bringing that up as if being a player is comparable to being a head coach! It isn't. it simply is not. As an NBA player, Ollie had zero responsibility for assembling a team, for identifying areas of need, for deciding what type of offense to play, when to substitute, whether to double team the player X or Y during the final seconds (the famous Jim Calhoun quote about McNamarra comes to mind) how to deal with a guy who is in a shooting slump, or in a funk because his girlfriend dumped him, how to deal with the media, who should have what responsibilities among the assistants coaches. As a player, he has no responsibility or even input into questions such as how do we make the best use of Drummond, Oriaki and Smith? None of the millions of things, large and small, that the head coach of a major program is responsible for, even when he's not the one who does them. As a player, his responsibility is to show up and be ready to play when called upon. That's it. Does it maybe impress some recruits when he says I played in the NBA for 10 years? Sure. But does that matter if he can't figure out how to best use them if he does get them to come to UConn? Not a bit. You are the one who has it backasswards. Just because someone was a good player, or even a journeyman palyer, it doesn't automatically translate into being a good coach. Jim Calhoun never even had a sniff of the NBA. didn't seem to hurt his ability to coach. Boehiem's "pro career" was a couple of years with a minor league team in Scanton PA. but he was a pretty good coach too. Far as I know, Pitino never played in the NBA but he's pretty fair too. Billy Donovan, your favorite example, played a year for the New York Knicks. Hasn't hurt him too much. these guys all learned to be coaches. They learned to scout, review film,and so forth, not just to see what the guy htey might cover likes to do in a given situation, but from a larger perspective. Not does Jones always go to his left when he drives? Or does smith pick up his dribble if he's pressed? but the bigger picture too...what does Coach Smith do if we double team Jones? Who does he substitute and how do we counter that? How do we force them out of their comfort zone? And that's only the game analysis...