Hoops Habit
Fansided

NBA: Ranking every active head coach by playing career

By Corey Rausch

March 23, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
March 23, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 31
Next
Mark Daigneault
Mark Daigneault (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

Every NBA head coach ranked by playing career: 30. Mark Daigneault

Currently, the youngest head coach in the league, Mark Daigneault, is also the least accomplished player among all the current coaches. Many coaches have played at the collegiate level. Daigneault went to one of the preeminent college basketball programs in the country, joining the Connecticut Huskies in the midst of their run to the National Championship from 2003-2007.

Daigneault was not a star player for the Huskies. In fact, he wasn’t even a player on the team at all. He was the student manager, starting his humble beginnings in the basketball world.

He learned the ropes from the likes of Jim Calhoun and would eventually make his way into various organizations, learning along with the way everything that was needed to become an NBA head coach.

Admittedly, this is an unorthodox path for someone to make it to the height of the profession but so far, the outside-of-the-box hiring is paying dividends. He is taking advantage of the developmental teachings he received going back to his time at UConn and is applying them to one of the youngest teams in the league today in the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mark Daigneault is shaping the team in his image and hoping that they can play better than he did.