Reigning national champions University of Connecticut will need not worry as their head coach Kevin Ollie has declared he intends to stay with the school despite numerous NBA coaching offers coming his way.
"People have called and asked if I'm interested, and like I always say, 'I'm here with UConn right now and trying to work things out with our great university,'" Ollie told Courant.com. "I'm UConn-made and I want to be here for a long time. But those guys are persistent and they keep calling no matter what I say, that's just part of the success you've had, the success the university has had."
He continued: "It's a great honor to have options. It's a great honor, but at the end of the day I know where I want to be at and I know where my heart is."
It has been widely reported that NBA teams with coaching vacancies have been considering the 41-year-old Ollie. Teams like the LA Lakers, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Utah Jazz currently don't have head coaches, and Ollie's name has been associated with NBA coaching vacancies. Ollie still has four years left on his five-year deal worth $7.5 million. According to Courant, he made more than $1.6 million the past year including bonuses.
His boss, UConn president Susan Herbst, said she's a bit worried about rumors of Ollie being pried away by an NBA team. "Any president would be on edge about it.Kevin is a tremendous leader and the NBA knows it. As a sports fan, you hear Lakers or these other openings, you sit up straight."
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