CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Former North Carolina point guard and New York Knicks assistant coach Phil Ford was named an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats on Thursday.
New coach Sam Vincent also hired veteran NBA and college coach Lee Rose – who led Charlotte and Purdue to the Final Four – and retained Jeff Capel, who was an assistant under former Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff.
Ford led the Tar Heels to the NCAA championship game in 1977 and won the Wooden Award as the nation’s top player the following year as a senior. He later spent 12 years as an assistant at North Carolina under Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge, but also had problems off the court when he was arrested twice on drunken driving charges.
Ford, 51, was let go when Matt Doherty replaced Guthridge as head coach in 2000. He had spent the past three years as an NBA assistant with Detroit and New York.
Rose, 70, led Charlotte to the 1977 Final Four and guided Purdue to the national semifinals three years later. He then served as an NBA assistant with four teams, including a five-year stint with the former Charlotte Hornets.
Vincent had said he was looking for a veteran assistant like Rose to help guide him in his first year as an NBA head coach.
Capel was an assistant with the Bobcats in each of their three seasons and will be the only holdover from the former staff.
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