Morgantown, West Virginia – Former West Virginia Mountaineers point guard Joe Mazzulla has served as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics since 2019. Now, Mazzulla will take over as the interim head coach for current head coach Ime Udoka, who is facing disciplinary action for a violation of the organization’s guidelines.
Mazzulla, 34, told Adam Zagoria of Zags Blog that he immediately called his former college head coach to share the news that he would be the interim head coach of the Celtics for the upcoming season.
Huggins advice?
“Don’t screw it up.”
“Well, he woke me up in the morning,” Huggins recalled. “The first thing he did was call me early, somewhere between 6-7. Obviously, he’s really excited about the opportunity. What are you going to say? Just don’t screw it up! He knew I was going to say it, so we both laughed.”
Mazzulla, 33, played for both John Beilein and Bob Huggins at West Virginia, advancing to the NCAA Tournament all four years. He was also named to the Big East Academic All-Star Team three times during his career.
Mazzulla has also been considered a potential replacement for Bob Huggins at WVU when he decides to retire, but he has said that he would prefer to remain coaching in the NBA.
