Varese hire a head coach with NBA experience / News - Basketnews.com

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Pallacanestro Varese have found their new coach in the NBA. This is Matt Brase, who has held the role of the assistant coach in Houston and Portland, while also being the head coach with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

He is the grandson of Lute Olson, an historic coach who led the American national team to the victory of the World Cup in 1986 and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Born on June 15, 1982, Brase embarked on a coaching career from an early age playing the role of assistant to the Arizona Wildcats, contributing to the achievement of the Sweet 16 in the 2008-2009 season. From 2009 to 2011 he was on the staff of the Grand Canyon University team, concurrently managing to graduate in Business Administration.

In 2011 he arrived in the NBA thanks to the Houston Rockets who first included him in the Basketball Operations staff and then, in 2012, appointed him assistant to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers team with which he won the G-League. The following year he became Director of Operations of the Rockets while from 2015 to 2018 he returned to the Vipers as head coach where he won the Western Conference in 2017.

From 2018 to 2020 he was assistant to Mike D'Antoni at the Rockets while at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season he joined the staff of the Portland Trail Blazers. In 2018 he also led the Haiti national team at the FIBA ​​AmeriCup 2021 Caribbean Pre-Qualifier.

"I am honored to have been appointed coach of Varese Basketball and to become part of the great tradition of this club," were Brase's first words. "I am thrilled to be alongside Luis Scola (the managing director of club, who had played with the Rockets) and Michael Arcieri and to work with respect to the vision they have for this historic club."

Michael Arcieri, general manager of Varese, said Brase "combines a series of characteristics that make him the ideal coach for our team: excellence and technical innovation, experience in the field of player development and the ability to create direct relationships with players and staff."

Brase's first goal will be to improve last year's 12th place. Varese coming back to the playoffs is what Scola and Arcieri would like to see.

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