Former NBA Head Coach and long-time assistant Herb Brown and former Portland Trail Blazers Video Coordinator Tim Grass have joined the University of Portland men’s basketball staff, head coach Eric Reveno announced on Wednesday. Brown will come on as an assistant coach, while Grass takes over as basketball technology coordinator.

"The NBA is still the pinnacle of the basketball world," Reveno said, "and it is an off-season coup when you can hire two individuals who have honed their skills at that level to help our program."

Brown has 45-plus years of coaching experience at the NBA, NCAA and international levels. He was head coach of the Detroit Pistons from 1975-77 and spent 14 years as an NBA assistant coach, including two seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers from 2001-03. Brown has earned three NBA Championship rings.

"When it became clear we had the opportunity to have Coach Brown join our staff this year, it was apparent to everyone in our program that it was a great opportunity," Reveno said. "In addition to his tremendous experience, he is a tireless worker with bounds of passion for teaching the game. As a staff, we didn’t want to just talk about ‘getting better every day,’ but truly embrace it."

In addition to his NBA experience Brown has eight years head coaching experience at the collegiate level, including five years at the helm of Stony Brook University (1964-69). His international coaching resume includes head coaching stops in the Spanish ACB League, fifteen seasons in Puerto Rico, and most recently leading the Japan Women’s National Team to its first Gold Medal in 35 years at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships. Brown also has won a Gold Medal and two Bronze Medals as the U.S. Head Coach in the Maccabi Games.

Brown was awarded the National Association of Basketball Coaches International Lifetime Coaching Achievement Award earlier this year and received an Outstanding Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, University of Vermont.

Reveno plans to utilize Brown’s experience and basketball acumen in a variety of capacities as an everyday member of the Pilot basketball staff.

"In a lot of ways, I see Coach Brown’s role as basketball teaching quality control," Reveno noted. "He will have a hand in all aspects related to basketball including playbook development, practice plan design, scouting, and in-game strategy. In business people hire consulting firms constantly and in coaching guys talk to wise experienced veterans of the game. We were just fortunate to hire one who will help us on a daily basis fulfill our mission of helping each player be the best he can be and compete for a championship."

Tim Grass joined the Pilots recently after a nine-year run in video operations and scouting for various NBA franchises. Grass spent four seasons as the Portland Trail Blazers Video Coordinator from 2009-13 and was previously the assistant video coordinator from 2007-09. His responsibilities ranged from managing assistant video coordinators and interns, to producing all videography for basketball operations, offensive playbook diagramming, and coordinating and assisting on-court workouts.

Grass spent last season as a regional advance scout for various NBA teams. He was an assistant coach for the Blazers during the 2012 NBA Summer League and was also an assistant video coordinator for the Houston Rockets during the 2006-07 season.

"Increasingly people are recognizing the value of an expert basketball person in your video room," Reveno said. "It has become fairly competitive to move beyond an entry level training position to a seasoned basketball veteran who can add value in every aspect of your coaching operations. With the hiring of Tim Grass as our video coordinator we have done exactly that. His resume speaks for itself in terms of experience and knowledge, which will translate immediately to helping our players maximize their abilities and win games."

A 2003 graduate of University of Wisconsin-Stout, Grass received his Master of Science degree in Sport Administration from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2006.

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