Division III alums in the WNBA or NBA, playing or coaching

[rlk]

MIT head coach Sonia Raman is joining the Memphis Grizzlies as an assistant coach.  What an amazing opportunity, and I'm sure she'll do MIT and Division III as a whole proud.

I'm wondering whether anyone else has made the leap from Division III to the NBA or WNBA as a coach without intervening experience in Division I or II or any pro league.  Boston's head coach Brad Stevens played at DePauw, but he was head coach at Butler (very successfully, at that).

[ronk]

MIT head coach Sonia Raman is joining the Memphis Grizzlies as an assistant coach.  What an amazing opportunity, and I'm sure she'll do MIT and Division III as a whole proud.

I'm wondering whether anyone else has made the leap from Division III to the NBA or WNBA as a coach without intervening experience in Division I or II or any pro league.  Boston's head coach Brad Stevens played at DePauw, but he was head coach at Butler (very successfully, at that).

As a coach, Scranton WBB HC Nick DiPillo went from Kean(assistant) to scout, then assistant with the New York Liberty of the WNBA.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

San Antonio assistant Will Hardy (Williams alum) began as a Spurs intern and worked his way up.  He coached the G-League affiliate at some point, so I don't know if you're counting that as "previous experience" or not, since it was with the same organization.

[rlk]

I'm really thinking in terms of direct moves to assistant (or head) coach, not interns or scouts.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

There are a number of DIII connections in the NBA. Dave Hixon's plan during his sabbatical (before his father's health and the coronavirus) was to tour a number of places.

There is a connection at CLE I just can't remember off the top of my head.

And Gregg Popovich left Pomona-Pitzer for the NBA to be an assistant under Larry Brown. He had taken a year of from Pomona-Pitzer to be an assistant under Brown at Kansas, but was still mainly a DIII coach (after being an assistant at Air Force).

[rlk]

There are a number of DIII connections in the NBA. Dave Hixon's plan during his sabbatical (before his father's health and the coronavirus) was to tour a number of places.

There is a connection at CLE I just can't remember off the top of my head.

And Gregg Popovich left Pomona-Pitzer for the NBA to be an assistant under Larry Brown. He had taken a year of from Pomona-Pitzer to be an assistant under Brown at Kansas, but was still mainly a DIII coach (after being an assistant at Air Force).

Popovich played at Air Force in addition to being an assistant at Kansas.  I'm really thinking in terms of someone with no basketball affiliation beyond Division III.  There surely aren't many, at most.

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

Will there be a 2020-21 NCAA Division III basketball season? If so what will it look like? What will the post-season look like?

It is on the mind of student-athletes, coaches, administrators, parents, and fans for several weeks, if not months, now. We are finally understanding what it may look like as a number of decisions or proposals are now making their way around Division III.

In this month's podcast, Dave McHugh not only downloads all the things being considered and the likely outcomes, but tries to give listeners an understanding of how much is still unknown despite some things becoming more clear.

McHugh also talks to Texas-Dallas women's basketball coach Polly Thomason for her take. Thomason has been in the Division III Women's Basketball National Committee for several years and is this season's chair of the committee. She also serves on the WBCA Board of Governors. Thomason not only provides her perspective on much of what is going on not only in Division III, but in women's basketball as well.

And of course, there is always the Hoopsville Notebook. Unfortunately, there is some sad news in the Notebook this month, but also news to celebrate especially when it comes to DIII alums making news in the NBA.

You can listen to the podcast here: https://bit.ly/3kMl0rZ

Hoopsville broadcasts from the WBCA/NABC Studio. All guests are featured on the BlueFrame Technology Hoopsville Hotline. The offseason plan is to do a podcast each month. The shows will be audio-only leading up to the start of the 2020-21 when we will restart the video shows.

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