Following the team’s switch in head coaches, the Long Island Nets announced several additions to Shawn Swords’ coaching staff, naming Khalif Wyatt, Bryson Johnson, and Al Paul as assistant coaches. Vladimir Lukomski will serve as head video coordinator and player development coach.
Swords was named head coach of the Nets G League affiliate earlier in the summer following Mfon Udofia’s decision to take an assistant coach’s job with the Orlando Magic following three years in Long Island.
Jorge Gutiérrez
also returns as an assistant coach. The former Brooklyn Net worked alongside Wyatt on the Summer League staff this year as well, and is entering his third year as an assistant with Long Island. Gutierrez played four seasons in the NBA, his first two with Brooklyn.
Wyatt’s move is a promotion. He spent last season as Long Island’s head video coordinator and player development coach and was an assistant on the Nets’ Summer League coaching staff. Before joining Long Island, he worked in player development at Temple University, where he played college hoops, and spent time as a coach at West Chester University.
Wyatt, 35, carved out a successful nine-year career overseas before retiring following the 2022 season. During five seasons in Israel, Wyatt was a two-time All-Israeli League First Team player.
Johnson comes to Long Island after three years as an associate head coach at Holy Cross. He previously coached at Vermont, where the program won back-to-back America East regular-season tournament titles during his first two seasons on the staff. He’s also coached at George Mason and Brown.
Paul, a Long Island native, spent the past three seasons as an assistant at Boston University. He held the same role at Yale and previously worked at BU as a video coordinator and director of operations.
Lukomski takes over the position Wyatt held last season. He spent the past two years as a graduate assistant at Mississippi State and has worked in video and coaching roles with Canada’s national team program, where he has overlapped with Swords. Long Island will play four “home” games in Canada this year, marking their third straight year they’ve traveled to Montreal as “Les Nets.”
In addition to Udofia becoming an assistant with the Orlando, LI had several assistant coaches poached this offseason, which led to this series of additions to the staff. Most notably, Steven Kaner is now the assistant video coordinator with the Atlanta Hawks.
Long Island will begin their season on November 6 before their home opener on Friday, November 13 at the Nassau Coliseum.
