USATSI
Former Notre Dame coach Mike Brey will join the Atlanta Hawks’ coaching staff next season after leading the Fighting Irish for 23 years, according to multiple reports. The move will reunite Brey with Quin Snyder, who became head coach of the Hawks in late February and is leading the team as it takes on the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Snyder played at Duke from 1985-89, crossing paths with Brey, who became an assistant for the Blue Devils in 1987 under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski. Snyder later returned to Duke as an assistant in 1995, working on staff with Brey until Snyder left to become the head coach at Missouri in 1999.
Brey, 64, posted a 483-280 mark at Notre Dame highlighted by back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 2015 and 2016. He announced in January that he planned to step down at the end of the 2022-23 season but made it clear he didn’t necessarily plan to retire. Subsequently, his name came up in connection with the open head coaching positions at Georgetown and South Florida before those jobs went to Providence’s Ed Cooley and Amir Abdur-Rahim of Kennesaw State, respectively.
No title or role has been announced or reported for Brey’s role on the Hawks staff, but the stint will be his first in the NBA. Snyder is coaching in the playoffs for a seventh straight season after an eight-year stint with the Utah Jazz highlighted by six straight postseason appearances to close his tenure.
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