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The Washington Wizards announced today that the team has named Tony Brown, Sidney Lowe, Chad Iske, Mike Terpstra and Maz Trakh as assistants on Head Coach Scott Brooks’ staff. Eric Sebastian, director of coaching operations, and Kamran Sufi, advance scout, were also named by the team while David Adkins will remain as the team’s director of player development.
“The staff we have put together here in Washington is an impressive group of basketball minds with extensive coaching experience and knowledge of the game,” said Brooks. “I look forward to working alongside this versatile group every day in our quest to bring the best out of our players.”
Brown joins the Wizards as Brooks’ top assistant after spending the last two seasons with Brooklyn. He was an assistant on Lionel Hollins’ staff before taking over as interim head coach on January 11 (finishing 11-34). The Chicago native has also served as an assistant coach with Dallas, the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee, Boston, Toronto, Detroit and Portland. Brown played seven seasons in the NBA after being selected with the 82nd pick in the fourth round of the 1982 Draft.
Lowe comes home to Washington after serving as an assistant with Minnesota for the last two seasons. The former DeMatha star has spent eight years as a head coach and 12 years as an assistant coach in the NBA and NCAA. Prior to his time in Minnesota, Lowe served three seasons (2011-14) as an assistant with the Utah Jazz after previously serving as the head coach at North Carolina State University (2006-11). Following five seasons as an assistant with Cleveland (1994-99) and one season with Minnesota (1999-2000), Lowe was named head coach of the Vancouver Grizzlies in June of 2000, eventually moving with the team to Memphis before stepping down shortly into the 2002-03 campaign. Lowe was originally selected by the Chicago Bulls with the first pick of the second round (25th overall) in the 1983 NBA Draft.
Iske joins Brooks after spending the 2015-16 campaign as associate head coach for the Sacramento Kings. He was also an assistant coach for two seasons (2013-15) with the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to his time with the Sixers, Iske spent 14 seasons with the Denver Nuggets as the team’s scouting coordinator, video coordinator and as an advance scout before being promoted to an assistant coach in 2008.
Terpstra enters his first season with Washington after spending the 2015-16 season with the men’s basketball program at Boise State. He served as an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2013-15 and brings over 20 years of coaching experience after working in various capacities at the college, junior college and high school levels, with additional experience in the NBA Development League and the CBA. Following his college playing career at Northwest Nazarene, Terpstra played professionally in Turkey and England.
Trakh served as the west coast advance scout for Golden State during the 2015-16 and brings more than 20 years of coaching experience in varying capacities to the Wizards. Prior to his time with the Warriors, he served as an assistant coach with the Thunder from 2010-2012 and was a member of Maurice Cheeks’ staff in Detroit during the 2013-14 season. After playing at Southern Utah University, Trakh served as an assistant coach at Long Beach State, Riverside Community College and UC Irvine before being named head coach at Cabrillo College in Aptos, CA.
Sebastian returns to the NBA for his 16th season. He spent the last seven seasons as the director of basketball operations at the University of Memphis, where he helped the Tigers make four NCAA Tournaments and develop five future NBA players. He assisted Head Coach Josh Pastner with all aspects of the program, including on-campus recruiting, statistical analysis, game scheduling, team travel, practice facility upgrades and in-game management. Sebastian began his career with the Denver Nuggets where he worked 15 seasons (1994-2009), the last six as Director of Media Relations.
Sufi spent 2015-16 season as a regional advance scout with the Golden State Warriors, the 2014-15 season as advance scout for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the 2013-14 season as advance scout with the Detroit Pistons. Before his time in Detroit, he worked a season each with the Shanghai Sharks, Shandong Lions and Xinjiang Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Adkins returns for his third season with Washington. He is known as an elite developer of talent, helping to hone the skills of numerous NBA players. In addition to his five years of the University of Maryland, the DMV native has coached at DeMatha Catholic, Montrose Christian, Herndon and Washington-Lee. He has helped more than 50 players earn college scholarships, including 41 Division I scholarships, in his 20+ years on the sidelines.
