Mike Bibby interested in joining Arizona coaching staff as assistant

If Mike Bibby has it his way, he’ll be coaching on the Arizona bench this fall at McKale Center.

Bibby, one of Arizona’s all-time great point guards and a member of the 1997 national title team, told the Arizona Republic’s Richard Obert he wants to be part of the Wildcats’ staff.

“I think Arizona should bring back someone that played for the late great Coach O,” Bibby told Obert by text. “There are a lot of head coaches that played for Coach O that would be a great choice.

“I would love to be an assistant coach there. Anywhere on that staff is a dream job for me.”

Bibby played 14 years in the NBA before moving on to high school coaching. He led the Shadow Mountain High School basketball program in Phoenix from 2013-2019. There he won four consecutive state titles in a five-year run.

In February 2019 Bibby was pushed out of Shadow Mountain over a sexual abuse investigation that accused him of groping a female teacher in in his car on school grounds.

Later that year he took over the Hillcrest Prep program, but the job lasted only a few months before he and the school parted ways.

Bibby is still one of the most beloved players in Arizona history for leading the Wildcats to a national championship as a freshman point guard. His sophomore season, Bibby won Pac-10 Player of the Year and was named a First-Team All-American.

Bibby entered the 1998 NBA Draft after two seasons in Tucson and was selected second overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies. His NBA career spanned six franchises, and he left the league having played in 1,001 games.

In 2017, Bibby graduated from UNLV with a multidisciplinary studies degree. That degree is significant in that allows him to coach at the college ranks.

Will Arizona be his next landing spot?