Jay Humphries, the only member of last year’s coaching staff who wasn’t retained by the Suns (Alvin Gentry) or offered a job by Mike D’Antoni in New York (Dan D’Antoni, Phil Weber), has landed in the NBA Development League as the coach of the Reno Bighorns.

Humphries said in statement on the league Web site, “I am very excited for the opportunity to establish a winning tradition here in Reno and put a quality brand of basketball on the court.”

Humphries was in a difficult situation in Phoenix. The former Suns/Milwaukee Bucks guard was hired to replace Marc Iavaroni, who coached the Suns’ defense and big men. He wasn’t the first choice of D’Antoni, and Suns management wanted a defensive specialist (Tom Thibodeaux), but he made the best of a no-win situation in his first NBA gig.

If he proves himself in the D-League, the calls will come his way.

Posted in: Uncategorized |

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.