Former KU guard Terry Nooner flooded with congratulations for new job with NBA’s Cavs
Former Kansas basketball guard Terry Nooner figures he’s received about 200 voice mails and/or texts since Friday, when the fourth-year Maryland women’s assistant coach accepted a job as player development coach/assistant coach with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
“It’s been crazy. I didn’t realize how crazy it’d be. You’ve got people in all these circles — the ones I met coaching in college the last seven years (assistant at Southern Illinois, KU, Alabama and Maryland), KU people, Kansas City people, all the people from my AAU organization (Missouri Phenom), all the players I coached,” Nooner said.
The 2000 KU grad is joining the Cavaliers coaching staff of longtime friend Tyronn Lue, who was a teammate of Nooner at Raytown High School.
“Me, Ryan (Robertson) and Nick (Bradford) … we’ve got a group text. C.B. McGrath, Kenny Gregory, Lester Earl, Eric Chenowith today,” Nooner said, rattling off the names of some of the former Jayhawks to congratulate him on his NBA job.
“My high school coach texted,” Nooner added of Mark Scanlon, who was inducted into the greater Kansas City Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in April. “Me, Tyronn, a bunch of former players talk to him. He text me congratulations yesterday. He’s happy for me. He gave me some stuff to use,” Nooner added of the man with 649 wins in a 40-year coaching career (also at O’Hara and St. Michael the Archangel).
The 40-year-old Nooner — he’s established himself as a top assistant on the women’s collegiate level — said despite the fact, “I really love women’s basketball,” it in some ways was a no-brainer to accept the Cavs’ offer.
“I think it was just the challenge of having a chance to be able to coach at the highest level, something I didn’t think I could pass up,” Nooner said. “Put it together with working with a childhood, longtime friend, it was a great opportunity for me and my family.”
Former Nebraska standout Lue was best man at Nooner’s wedding.
“We used to talk about it a long time ago, that we’d be working together somewhere,” Nooner said of conversations with the 41-year-old Lue, who directed the LeBron James-led Cavs to an NBA title in 2016. “I thought he’d end up being a college coach. We’d have talks late at night. He’d say, ‘I’ll be coach at UCLA. My staff will be you, Chauncey (Billups), Kevin Garnett.’ It was friends always talking and talking trash. Now he’s in the NBA.”
Nooner was unable to attend Game 7 of the 2016 Finals — the Cavs’ 93-89 clinching win at Golden State.
“Something was going on at Maryland where I was not able to go to the game,” Nooner said. “It’s probably better I didn’t go. I was so stressed, screaming (for Cavs to win).”
Kansas City native Larry Drew, who is Lue’s associate head coach with the Cavs, also has an NBA title ring from 2016.
“Larry Drew … when I’d come to (Cavs) practices, I’d sit in his office. He’d show me plays. He’s been around the game 30, 40 years. The whole staff and administration … I’m excited about getting to be around a bunch of big-time people I’ll be able to learn from,” Nooner added. “Who knows where I’ll be in a couple years — the gym all the time.”
Nooner would like to be a head coach some day.
“I never thought when I first started coaching (he’d be in NBA). I always had a love of the game and just wanted to get better,” Nooner said. “I had dreams to be a BCS level assistant coach. I got in it and at some point wanted to be a head coach. My dreams were by the time I was 40, 45 I’d be a head coach in the Missouri Valley (Conference). I like the Missouri Valley. It’s close to home. I figure that’s the level I’d be. I’m not going to put any limits on it. I will be me. I will work hard, stay humble, do the right things and see what comes. I’m just happy I have a chance to work for Tyronn. I’m big on learning and growing as a basketball person and I can learn from him and everybody on the coaching staff. I’m a basketball nerd. I can watch any kind of basketball all the time. Being around Tyronn, watching film with him can only make me better.”
Nooner said he follows his alma mater’s men’s and women’s teams closely. He spoke with his college coach, Roy Williams, about a month ago.
“KU is a big part of who I am,” Nooner said. “One of the reasons I picked KU is how it could help me 20 or 30 years down the road. The benefits of being a Jayhawk … I’m grateful how it’s helped me in the coaching ranks. People in the business understand the prestige and how big the program is. It’s helped me a lot. Just to say I’m a Jayhawk is big in coaches’ circles.
“When they play, I cheer,” added Nooner, who along with his wife, Tracy, has two children — daughter Tarynn and son Terry Nooner III. “When they lose, I don’t watch ‘SportsCenter’ that night. I’ll be watching the game and screaming. My wife gets mad when I scream and wake up the kids.”
Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese said she’s enjoyed working with Nooner the past three campaigns.
“We are excited for Terry and his family for this opportunity that he has worked so hard for,” Frese said. “Terry has brought such a positive energy to our Maryland family and we will miss him, his wife, Tracy and their kids, Tarynn and Terry. This is such a great opportunity for him to be able to work alongside his longtime friend, Tyronn Lue. He’s earned it. We love seeing our players, coaches, staff members’ open new doors for themselves. We wish Terry and his family all the best.”