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Those assistant coaches who left Arizona from 1985-2025 did so to become head coaches, or because they were engulfed by the messy departure of Lute Olson or the uncertainty of Sean Miller‘s NCAA investigation. Ken Burmeister, Ricky Byrdsong, Scott Thompson, Jessie Evans, Phil Johnson, Archie Miller, James Whitford, Jay John, Kevin O’Neill, Rodney Tention and Joe Pasternack all left Arizona for head coaching positions. Damon Stoudamire left to coach on Josh Pastner‘s staff at Memphis mostly because he found it uncomfortable to coach for Miller.

Over those 40 years, the only UA assistant coach pushed out in a non-NCAA investigation period was Tony McAndrews, a victim of the NCAA’s mid-’90s declaration that only two coaches per team could be paid full salaries. It was called the “restricted earnings� rule that attempted to be part of a failed move at cost containment in college sports.

Bakamus might’ve left Arizona because there doesn’t seem to be a way to move up the ladder. Assistant head coach Jack Murphy is entrenched. New assistant coach Brandon Chappell, hired from Texas, appears to be No. 2 on the staff. Plus, Bakamus surely got a raise to coach at Texas Tech. Last year, the four Tech assistants were all paid a minimum of $300,000. Bakamus’ salary at Arizona was listed at $180,000. The vacancy at Tech arose when assistant Matt Braeuer became the head coach at Stephen F. Austin, and assistant Luke Barnwell became the top assistant on Ben McCollum’s new staff at Iowa.