Did Y'all See Jerry Sichting on the Wizards' Bench?

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Washington Wizards announced today that Jerry Sichting will join Randy Wittman’s staff as an assistant coach.

Sichting brings 24 years of experience as an NBA player, coach and talent evaluator to the Wizards’ bench, including 11 seasons serving as an assistant both alongside and under Wittman with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"I’m obviously very familiar with what Jerry will add to our staff and I’m thrilled to have him on board," said Wittman. “His experience playing, teaching and evaluating the game will be valuable on the bench and on the practice court as we continue to develop our players and establish this team’s identity."

Sichting originally began his career with Minnesota in 1995-96 as the team’s director of scouting and player development before moving to the bench and adding assistant coach to his title for the next nine seasons (seven of which were spent alongside Wittman). After a stint as an assistant with Marquette University in 2006-07, Sichting returned to the Timberwolves for two seasons as an assistant under Wittman, who had been promoted to head coach. He returned to the front office as director of pro personnel in 2009-10 before joining the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach for the 2010-11 campaign. Sichting most recently stepped in to coach Martinsville (Ind.) High School, his alma mater, following the abrupt retirement of the team’s head coach during the 2011-12 season.

As a player, Sichting averaged 6.9 points and 3.3 assists over 598 games and 10 seasons with Indiana, Boston, Portland, Charlotte and Milwaukee. He began his playing career in 1980 with the Pacers, and averaged a career-high 11.5 points per game during the 1983-84 season. Sichting went on to help the Celtics capture the 1986 NBA Championship, averaging 6.5 points per game off the bench. He returned to Boston after his playing career ended, spending four seasons (1991-95) as an analyst on the Celtics’ radio broadcasts.

Sichting was originally a fourth-round selection (82nd) overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 1979 NBA Draft out of Purdue University, where he was the captain of the 1978-79 Boilermakers squad that captured the Big 10 Championship. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.