Former Kentucky Wildcat and 1978 NCAA Champion Dwane Casey was recently named head coach of the NBA?s Minnesota Timberwolves. He became the seventh head coach in the franchise’s 16-year history

Casey joins the Wolves after spending the last 11 seasons as a member of the Seattle SuperSonics’ coaching staff, including the last four seasons as associate head coach. He was promoted to his current position in November of 2000 when Nate McMillan was named head coach. Casey arrived in Seattle for the 1994-95 campaign after spending five years as a head coach in Japan. During his overseas tenure, he coached Japan’s National Team with basketball legend Pete Newell. In the summer of 1998, Casey coached the team to its first World Championship appearance in 31 years.

“I’m excited to be here in the Twin Cities, and Iook forward to the challenge that lies ahead,” Casey said. “It’s not every day that a person gets a chance to coach a player of Kevin Garnett’s caliber. Kevin McHale and his staff have assembled a very good team here. This is a great situation for me, and I’m looking forward to coaching an outstanding collection of players and getting to know our fans and business partners.”

Prior to his coaching stint in Japan, Casey was an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky from 1985-90. He also served as an assistant at Western Kentucky University from 1980-85.

Casey played at Kentucky from 1976-79 and helped the Wildcats register a 30-2 record his junior season and capture the 1978 NCAA title. A four-year letterman, Casey was named team captain his senior year and won Kentucky’s all-academic award.