Jason Terry played four years for the legendary Lute Olsen at Arizona, winning a national championship in 1997 and averaging 21.9 points a game his senior year. The Jet went on from there to play 19 years in the NBA, winning a Sixth Man of the Year award in 2009, and he was part of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks championship team.
Terry had moved into the front office side of the business and was serving as the assistant GM of the Texas Legends, Dallas’ G-League affiliate. Now, however, he is jumping back to his alma mater, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
19-year NBA veteran and former Wildcat Jason Terry has accepted assistant coaching job at Arizona, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Terry departs Mavs, where he's been assistant GM of Texas Legends. Announcement expected Thursday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 28, 2020
This is a smart hire by Arizona and head coach Sean Miller. High schoolers going to a major D-1 school all have NBA dreams and having a respected NBA veteran who can say “this is what it takes” on staff is a big plus. Besides, Terry was a smart player who knows the game and had a mentality suited to coaching.
For Terry, he’s back in a place he likes, he’s young (42) and has a world of options ahead of him.