Former LSU assistant coach Ronald Dupree becomes the second LSU deputy to depart from the program in two weeks, as Dupree will join former LSU associate head coach Eric Musselman’s staff at Nevada, Musselman confirmed Friday night.
“He’s got high energy, great character and he’s unbelievably enthusiastic,” Musselman said. “With his NBA background, we feel like he’s going to be a big asset to us.”
Dupree, the former Director of Student-Athlete Development at LSU, joins Musselman after returning to LSU to complete his engineering degree two years ago.
A week ago, former LSU associate head coach David Patrick accepted an assistant coach job at TCU under new head coach Jamie Dixon, according to a report by ESPN.
Musselman said he hopes Dupree, 35, will begin working at Nevada within the coming weeks.
“We’d like to get him as soon as possible, but we understand he has a family,” Musselman said. “Obviously, [LSU] coach [Johnny] Jones and I have a great relationship, so it’s no rush. For LSU and his family, obviously when you change jobs, we’ve got to be patient and let he and his family get as organized as they can.
“In the next few weeks we expect him to be here.”
Musselman said Dupree, an 11-year pro and Tiger star from 1999-2003, will be familiar moving to Nevada because of his familiarity with the region after completing a short playing stint with the Reno Bighorns in the NBA’s Developmental League in 2013.
“Obviously, I’ve worked with him and I’ve been around him. He’s played in Reno on the Reno Bighorn D-League team,” Musselman said. “He knows what Reno is like, his wife knows what Reno is like — for all of those reasons, we think Reno is a good fit.”
Dupree will join former former California University associate head coach Yann Hufnagel in Nevada, Musselman confirmed.