Fri, Jul 04, 2008
 Mike Dunlap 
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Dunlap confirms he'll be associate head coachArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.07.2008
The length of tenure and exact duties remain to be discussed, but Denver Nuggets assistant coach Mike Dunlap knows this much:
He is set to become the Arizona Wildcats' associate head basketball coach under Lute Olson.
Dunlap, 50, said Tuesday from Denver that he still had some details to clear up but could be officially on board early next week.
"I don't anticipate any problems, but there hasn't been anything formally written yet," Dunlap said.
Dunlap, a highly successful coach in Australia and at Division II Metro State in Denver before he joined the Nuggets two seasons ago, said his strengths are coaching on the floor and organization. But he said he will do whatever Olson thinks is best.
Dunlap said he also does not have any agreement to become Olson's eventual successor, as Kevin O'Neill received last December before he was moved to a fundraising role last month. The 73-year-old Olson, whose contract runs until 2011, has said he does not see a need to have a succession plan.
"Coach (Olson) was telling me about how he wants to do this job for four or five more years, and I listened," Dunlap said. "If you overthink that, you can be in a bad place."
So for now, Dunlap said he is content to run whatever Olson wants him to run, finally joining forces with a coach he has known since 1997. Dunlap, then the coach of Australia's Adelaide 36ers, said he spent time with Olson on the Wildcats' exhibition trip to Australia that spring and has kept in contact since.
"We talked about (my role), and the comfort thing for me is to fit in wherever he needs me to," Dunlap said. "He's had so much success that for anybody to come on board saying they expect to do something could be overstating it … and I'm well-versed in coaching in different areas."
Dunlap might have been able to jump back into the college ranks as a head coach this spring. He was interviewed for an opening at California and approached by Stanford, Oregon State, Rice and Loyola Marymount, his alma mater.
But even though the Arizona job is an associate role, Dunlap said it was attractive to him.
"I've been in the college game for 27 years and more important is just learning from Coach" Olson, Dunlap said. "I think what it is for me is the learning element and being part of that Arizona network, which is strong."
Dunlap's impending move could prompt UA assistant coach Josh Pastner to take a closer look at joining Memphis' staff. Pastner, who would be the No. 2 assistant at best on Olson's new staff, has been linked to a potentially higher-profile spot with the Tigers under John Calipari.
Calipari was unavailable for comment, and Pastner declined to say anything other than, "I love Arizona."
If Pastner departs, Olson would have an entirely new staff for next season. Kevin O'Neill and Miles Simon already have left the staff after they, with Pastner, guided the Wildcats during Olson's season-long leave of absence.
O'Neill was moved to a fundraising position April 23, after Olson stated on April 1 that O'Neill would not be back on staff, and UA announced last week that Simon's contract would not be renewed.
Simon has declined to return messages about his departure but he told ESPN.com that he left under unclear circumstances. Simon said he was informed he would not be retained by UA athletic director Jim Livengood but not given a reason. After telling Olson the news, Simon told ESPN that Olson appeared surprised.
But when Simon went back to Livengood, according to the ESPN blog entry, Simon said Livengood told him Olson was keenly aware of everything.
"It really hurts," Simon told ESPN. "I bleed Arizona, and this is how it ends? They have given me no explanation, no closure. … I have known Coach O since I was 17, and this is not a side of him that I know."
Livengood was unavailable for comment Tuesday but has said he would not comment on Simon's departure because it is a personnel issue he cannot discuss. Olson does not speak with the Star outside of news conferences.
Former ASU assistant coach Russ Pennell was announced Monday to fill the spot vacated by O'Neill; Dunlap is likely to take Simon's spot, but as the associate head coach. Though titled an assistant coach, O'Neill was an associate head coach of sorts when he was hired last spring for $375,000.
Dunlap was 59-33 in three seasons with Adelaide before beginning his nine-year stint at Metro State. There, Dunlap was 248-50 and won Division II national titles in 2000 and 2002.
Dunlap, a native of Fairbanks, Alaska, graduated from Loyola Marymount and served as an assistant coach with the Lions before also coaching at USC and Iowa. He has written several articles for publication, including a 1987 piece on the motion offense, a scheme that Olson favors.
Arizona policy for state employees mandates that the job must be posted for seven days before a hire can be officially made. The opening Dunlap would fill was not posted as of Tuesday. However, the posting for the opening created by O'Neill and filled by Pennell is still on UA's job Web site.
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