Ryan Pannone, an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans, has accepted an offer to become an assistant coach under Nate Oats at Alabama, he told ESPN on Saturday.
Pannone comes from a different background than most assistant coaches in the college basketball ranks, previously serving as the head coach of the Pelicans G League affiliate for three seasons. Prior to that, his stops as an assistant, head coach or staff member included Angola, Israel, Germany, China, Korea and Slovakia. He also coached in junior college and high school in the United States.
His G League teams in Birmingham, which is an hour from Tuscaloosa, played a fast-paced, wide-open offense with a heavy dose of 3-point shooting, which in many ways mirrored the style of play that Oats instituted at Alabama over the past few seasons. Pannone also coached two of Oats’ former players, Kira Lewis Jr. and Herbert Jones, on the Pelicans, which is where the connection with Alabama was strengthened.
Pannone, a native of Clearwater, Florida, interviewed for the head-coaching position at South Florida this spring.
Alabama assistant coaches Bryan Hodgson (Arkansas State), Charlie Henry (Georgia Southern) and Antoine Pettway (Kennesaw State) all landed head-coaching positions, opening up three spots on Oats’ staff.
The Crimson Tide won both the SEC regular season and conference tournament championships, earning the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament before losing in the Sweet 16 to eventual national championship finalists San Diego State.
Jonathan Givony is an NBA Draft expert and the founder and co-owner of DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and international teams.