Dean Oliver joins UW basketball coaching staff

MADISON - Former Iowa guard Dean Oliver, who recently completed his third season as an assistant coach at Illinois State, is joining the Wisconsin basketball coaching staff.

"We are really excited to welcome Dean back to the Big Ten and the Wisconsin basketball family," UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. "I have been impressed with him over the years and after getting to know him better through this process, it became easy to see why he has been so successful in the past as a player and most recently as a coach.

"Everyone I talked to about Dean had the utmost respect for his leadership, teaching abilities and passion for helping student-athletes. He has a tremendous reputation for building relationships, has great rapport with players and excels in player development, particularly with guards. It's rare to find a coach with his combination of professional playing experience and coaching ability and I have no doubt he is the right fit for our program."

According to sources, Oliver was among at least three candidates who interviewed for the vacancy created when associate head coach Lamont Paris took over the Tennessee-Chattanooga program. The trio of candidates included former UW assistant and UW-Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter.

Oliver, 38, played 126 games at Iowa from 1997-2001. He played two seasons with the Golden State Warriors.

Waived by the Warriors, Oliver played professionally in the U.S. and in Europe for eight years.

Oliver was on the staff at North Dakota for three seasons (2011-’14) before joining Illinois State.

Oliver has a track record of developing guards – both at North Dakota and Illinois State. Paris Lee was the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year and the league’s defensive player of the year last season.

"I am extremely honored and excited to be joining the men's basketball staff at the University of Wisconsin," Oliver said in a statement. "It is truly a dream to coach at such a prestigious, storied Big Ten program. I can't wait to get to work with the young nucleus of players as well as the exciting incoming recruits. I am equally as excited to work with and learn from Coach Gard and staff."

UW is positioned to take a graduate transfer and Illinois State forward MiKyle McIntosh could be in the mix.

McIntosh, 6-foot-7 and 235 pounds, averaged 12.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists as a junior last season.

He is expected to graduate this summer and is not returning to Illinois State for his senior season. McIntosh intends to declare to enter the NBA draft but is not expected to sign with an agent. 

McIntosh was a second-team all-Missouri Valley pick and helped the Redbirds finish 17-1 in the league and 28-7 overall.