NBA

DeMarcus Cousins’ High School Coach Gets A Rather Substantial Promotion

by Glenn Davis | 3:23 pm, July 30th, 2010

It pays to coach good players. Otis Hughley, who coached Kings lottery pick DeMarcus Cousins during his days at LeFlore High in Alabama, today left the high school ranks to take an assistant job – in the NBA, with the Kings.

Hughley said it was “hard to pass up an opportunity” to move to the pros, and no wonder – moving from a high school head coach to NBA assistant is a nearly impossible leap. It’s not so uncommon for successful high school coaches to get hired as college assistants – all those high school/AAU connections can do wonders for recruiting – but the NBA…well, this just doesn’t happen. (In fairness, Hughley also has experience as a college assistant, but at smaller schools like Liberty and Southern.)

However, this might be just what the Kings need. The Big Lead seemed to praise the move unironically, as did ESPN, and here’s why, despite the huge high school-NBA gap, they were right to. Cousins is enormously talented, but by all accounts also has a screw loose.

Why not, then, get someone proven in dealing with Cousins for the staff? (We’re guessing his college coach would have been a lot harder to pry away.) Cousins could be a franchise cornerstone, and great care should be taken in his development. Hughley’s hire is a step in that direction.

The closest we could think of coming to this is if the Heat hired Akron coach Keith Dambrot (LeBron’s former high school coach) as an assistant, but the differences are: 1) LeBron probably respects Pat Riley (we know, we know, not the coach…for now) enough that they don’t need to, and 2) Dambrot is a college coach, and a successful one at that.

Yes, this is a highly unusual hire, but Cousins is a highly unusual prospect, and the Kings are clearly committed to doing everything they can to get him to fulfill his vast potential. Here’s hoping this unconventional strategy works out – the league could always use another great player, and if Cousins can keep his head on straight, he’ll be one.

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