Kentucky hires coaching veteran Flint as assistant

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP)

Kentucky has hired coaching veteran James ''Bruiser'' Flint as an assistant on John Calipari's men's basketball staff. He fills the opening created by Kenny Payne's departure to the NBA's New York Knicks.

Flint's 30 years of experience include seven as Calipari's assistant during a successful stint at UMass, highlighted by the 1996 Final Four run under Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award winner Marcus Camby. Flint succeeded Calipari and guided the Minutemen to 86 wins over five seasons. He also won 245 games from 2001-16 at Drexel and was named Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year four times.

Flint had spent the past three seasons under Archie Miller at Indiana and has also worked with USA Basketball. He cited Calipari as ''both a brother and mentor'' in a release and said he was excited to get started with the Wildcats. Calipari added, ''Bruiser has an incredible basketball mind and is going to help us in a lot of ways.''

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