A handful of teams added high-profile assistants who will make a big impact on and off the court

The NBA's Charlotte Bobcats' hiring of St. John's assistant Mike Dunlap caught a lot of people off-guard this week.

The team had announced the finalists for the job were Jerry Sloan, Brian Shaw and Quin Snyder, but it instead hired Dunlap, a defense-minded assistant under Steve Lavin who does have two seasons of NBA experience.

That got us thinking: Everyone has dissected the good and bad of the head-coaching hires made by colleges this offseason, but what about some of the interesting assistant hires? Here's a list of 11 such hires, listed alphabetically.

[Related: St. John's left scrambling for assistant coach]

Kevin Broadus: Broadus, 48, again is a full-time assistant at Georgetown. He had been what the school was calling a "special assistant" for coach John Thompson III for the past year and replaces Robert Kirby on the Hoyas' staff. Broadus was a Hoyas assistant from 2004-07 before becoming coach at Binghamton. He spent two years at Binghamton, taking the school to its first NCAA tournament in 2009. But in September 2009, he was reassigned in the athletic department and never coached there again, eventually leaving in October 2010 (with a $1.2 million buyout) in the wake of NCAA violations, player arrests and player dismissals.

Hubert Davis: Davis, who turned 42 in May, left his job as an analyst with ESPN to become an assistant at North Carolina, his alma mater. Davis played at UNC from 1988-92 and still holds the school's career record for 3-point percentage at 43.5. Davis played 12 seasons in the NBA and spent the past seven seasons with ESPN. He replaces Jerod Haase, who became coach at UAB. Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said he wanted to hire a former UNC player for the job, and Davis said he looked forward to "developing relationships with players and coaches … with a basketball program that I have loved my entire life.”

Mike Deane: Deane, 60, is a new assistant at James Madison. Deane compiled a 436-334 record in 26 seasons as a coach at Siena, Marquette, Lamar and Wagner; he took all but Wagner to the NCAA tourney. James Madison's coach is Matt Brady, who was a senior on Deane's first team at Siena in 1986-87.

Ron Everhart: Everhart, 50, was fired as Duquesne's coach in March and hired as an assistant at West Virginia in May; he is longtime friends with WVU coach Bob Huggins. Everhart also is a former coach at McNeese State and Northeastern, and owns a career record of 273-261 in 18 seasons. Everhart spent six seasons at Duquesne and led the Dukes to four winning seasons; the school had had two winning records in the previous 25 seasons. Everhart, a West Virginia native, replaces Jerrod Calhoun on the WVU staff; Calhoun became coach at Division II Fairmont State.

Robert Kirby: Kirby was hired as an assistant at LSU by new coach Johnny Jones. Kirby, 50, had spent the past two seasons at Georgetown and is a former SEC assistant, having spent 12 seasons at Mississippi State under Rick Stansbury. Kirby is considered an excellent recruiter, especially in the Southeast.

[Related: A look at the newly hired head coaches]

Dave Leitao: Leitao, who turned 52 in May, is a new assistant at Missouri under Frank Haith. Leitao is the former coach at Northeastern, DePaul and Virginia, and spent the past two seasons as a head coach in the NBA's developmental league (Maine Red Claws). He is 143-129 with two NCAA appearances in nine seasons as a head coach. He replaces Ernie Nestor, himself a former head coach, on Mizzou's staff. Missouri also hired Ryan Miller, 34, as an assistant. Miller had spent the past five seasons as an assistant at New Mexico and also served as John Calipari's director of basketball operations at Memphis from 2004-06. He is the older brother of Miami Heat swingman Mike Miller. Miller replaces Isaac Chew, who left for Illinois, then departed six weeks later for Marquette.

Chris Lowery: Lowery, who turns 40 on July 7, was hired as an assistant at Kansas State by new Wildcats coach Bruce Weber. Lowery had spent the past eight seasons as Southern Illinois' coach and was fired in March; he had a 145-115 record with SIU and took the Salukis to the NCAA tourney in each of his first three seasons. Lowery worked under Weber for two seasons as an assistant at SIU and for one season at Illinois.

Mark Madsen: He became an assistant at Stanford, his alma mater, in early June. "Mad Dog," now 36, spent nine seasons in the NBA after leaving Stanford, winning two title rings while a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He spent one season as an assistant in the NBA's developmental league after retiring as a player in 2009 and spent the past two years working toward an MBA at Stanford. Madsen, who mainly will work with Stanford's big men, replaces Dick Davey, who retired in March after four seasons as an assistant.

Ulric Maligi: Maligi, who turned 28 in May, was hired as an assistant at SMU by new coach Larry Brown (and presumably with the support of coach-in-waiting Tim Jankovich). Maligi spent the past two seasons at Houston and is given the bulk of the credit for Houston's stellar incoming recruiting class. He also is a former assistant at Stephen F. Austin and UT Arlington, and is a former coach of a Dallas-based AAU program. His name is pronounced Your-ick Mal-uh-gee.

Doc Sadler: Sadler, who turned 52 on June 12, is the new director of basketball operations of Kansas; he replaces Barry Hinson, who left to become coach at Southern Illinois. Sadler has been coach at UTEP and Nebraska, compiling a 149-107 record in eight seasons. He was fired at Nebraska in March. While he is a sort of X's and O's savant, he had trouble recruiting enough talent to compete in the Big 12 and Big Ten with the Huskers. Kansas also hired Norm Roberts as an assistant this offseason, replacing Danny Manning, who left to coach Tulsa. Roberts, a former coach at St. John's, spent last season as an assistant at Florida. Roberts spent the 2003-04 season as a KU assistant.

Jerry Wainwright: He is Marquette's new director of basketball operations. Wainwright, 65, spent last season as an assistant at Fresno State, and is a former coach at UNC Wilmington, Richmond and DePaul. He was 245-225 in 16 seasons as a coach, with three NCAA appearances. Wainwright has a reputation as a good X's and O's guy who wasn't able to recruit enough talent at DePaul to compete in the Big East.

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