One of the Detroit Pistons assistant coaches is reported to be getting interviewed for the vacant Utah Jazz position. Jerome Allen just finished his first year as an assistant to Dwane Casey.
The Casey coaching tree might not be as extensive as Gregg Popovich’s, but his assistants are getting looked at.
With Quin Snyder leaving as head coach of the Utah Jazz, one of Casey’s assistants with the Pistons is, apparently, being considered for the the position.
The Utah Jazz received permission to interview Detroit Pistons assistant Jerome Allen for the franchise’s coaching job, sources tell ESPN. Jazz are beginning first-round of zoom interviews over next few days.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 10, 2022
Casey brought in a completely new coaching staff last season, as some assistants were let go, or hired away by other organizations.
One of the new hires was Jerome Allen.
He was an assistant with the Boston Celtics for six years. When Brad Stevens moved from head coach to general manager, Allen was a candidate to replace him, but Stevens ended up selecting Ime Udoka.
Allen also, reportedly, was up for the Portland head coaching position last year that went to former Pistons star Chauncey Billups.
Allen did a lot of development work with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart during his time in Boston. That is a good advertisement for someone’s teaching skills.
Allen was a standout player at the University of Pennsylvania and then played a couple of years in the NBA before having a long career overseas. Allen retired, and became the head coach at his alma mater. He went 65-104 from 2009-15 with the Quakers, before going to the Celtics.
Allen will not be going back to the college ranks anytime soon, as the NCAA has put a 15-year cause on him. After he left college coaching, it was revealed he had accepted money from a wealthy Miami businessman so his son would be admitted into Penn as a basketball recruit.
What are Jerome Allen’s chances of being named head coach at Utah?
Well, it seemingly is not an exclusive club to be considered for the Jazz head job. There may be as many as 14 candidates in the first round of interviews. The interviews will be conducted by Zoom, which helps scheduling a lot.
Utah underachieved this past season, losing in the first round of the playoffs, and they are a franchise in flux, with the future of stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert much debated.
Running the Jazz now is Danny AInge, who was the Celtics general manager when Allen was an assistant there; so he is quite familiar with his work.
With the Charlotte Hornets naming Kenny Atkinson as head coach and the Lakers hiring former Pistons player Darvin Ham, the Jazz are the only current opening for a head coaching position.
Since Allen has been with the Pistons just one year, it is hard to judge his impact. But Detroit’s guards did show improvement during the season, especially Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes, and even veteran Cory Joseph had his best shooting season.
Whether Allen gets the Jazz job or not, it is nice to see other NBA clubs recognize the talent helping Casey coach such a young squad.