Which longtime college coach became New Jersey Nets head coach in 1996-97?

Which longtime college coach became New Jersey Nets head coach in 1996–97? John Calipari.

Calipari took over the Nets on June 7, 1996, after building the University of Massachusetts into a national college basketball power. His hiring came after New Jersey failed to land Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, and Calipari was viewed as a similarly energetic, defense-minded college coach ready to try the NBA.

The 1996–97 Nets finished 26–56, but Calipari remained head coach through the 1997–98 season and part of 1998–99. He was dismissed after New Jersey began that season 3–17. His NBA tenure is often remembered as a brief interruption in a much longer college career.

Calipari later became one of college basketball’s most prominent coaches at Memphis and Kentucky, winning the 2012 NCAA championship with Kentucky. A common mix-up is confusing him with Butch Beard, who coached the Nets immediately before Calipari, or with later Nets coaches such as Don Casey and Byron Scott.