New Louisville basketball assistant coach Ross McMains could shake things up for the program.
Louisville basketball head coach Chris Mack has been working diligently to make important offseason changes.
One major difference on the sideline in 2021-22 will be the absence of Cardinals assistants Luke Murray and Dino Gaudio.
Louisville promoted from within, making basketball ops director Kahil Fennell an assistant coach. However, those around the program had been radio silent regarding the second vacant assistant position. Until now.
Today, Louisville officially announced the hiring of Australia and New Zealand coach Ross McMains.
Here’s what there is to know.
McMains has never coached in college
The first thing you should know is that McMains has never coached in college. He started his coaching career in player development for the Sacramento Kings and worked with NBA and G-League players. In 2015, he was hired as an assistant coach on the New Zealand National team. Simultaneously, however, he has been working with a variety of teams in the G-League, and most recently worked as an assistant for Melbourne United in Australia.
McMains was named the New Zealand Basketball League Coach of the Year in 2016.
He plays an innovative, up-tempo style
Perhaps the most important thing to know about McMains is that his teams have a very up-tempo style of play.
You can find a ton of interviews with McMains where he takes a deep dive into what his team’s offensive style is like. However, this is probably the best listen:
McMains loves motion. He loves quick passes and getting the ball into the hands of play-makers. He hates getting players into extended iso plays and encourages quick movement to get teammates open looks.
New Zealand had the best scoring offense in the 2019 basketball World Cup, averaging 99.4 points per game.
If the plan is to bring in McMains to adapt his style of offense, that would be a welcome sight for Louisville basketball.
His connections overseas and with the NBA could help Louisville basketball recruiting
It is the trendy thing to do in college basketball; Hire a coach with NBA ties and bring him in to recruit players who want to get to the league.
This has worked in the case of Juwan Howard at Michigan and appears to be working with Mike Woodson at Indiana. However, it has fallen flat more often than it has yielded success.
College basketball is more about cultivating relationships and teaching. For a coach like McMains, I think it is a wonderful idea to bring him in as a guy with an eye for next-level talent.
McMains feels like a hire out of left field. However, by all accounts, he could be exactly what Louisville basketball needs.
