Long Island Nets add assistant coaches, staff

The Long Island Nets have hired three new assistant coaches, including the Houston Rockets’ shooting coach, the team announced Sunday.

Josh Oppenheimer worked with the Rockets last season and before that, the Bucks for three years as a shooting coach. He has also held coaching positions at Duquesne, Delaware, DePaul, and Kent State on the collegiate level and owned his own skills training company, Excel Basketball. He played 10 years overseas, most of it in Israel.

Damian Cotter comes to the NBA after a long coaching career in Australia, including a stint as head coach of the Sydney Kings, the Australian National Basketball League powerhouse. He’s also coached the Australian under-19 men’s team for four seasons (2009-13), working with Dante Exum of the Jazz and Matthew Dellavedova of the Bucks.

Ryan Forehan-Kelly spent last season with Brooklyn as a video assistant on Kenny Atkinson’s staff. Prior to joining the Nets, Forehan-Kelly played professionally for 13 years on teams in Japan, Venezuela, China, France, and Italy, along with playing two seasons in the NBA D-League (now G League).

The team also named Rahsaan Robinson as strength and conditioning coach and Jordan Surenkamp as video coordinator. Robinson will join head athletic trainer Shanice Johnson on the team’s performance staff, while Surenkamp will round out Long Island’s basketball operations staff.

The hirings represents an upgrade to the Long Island staff. The three new assistants replace Ryan Gomes and Pat Rafferty who worked with Nored last season. The two other hires are new positions. Last season, Long Island played at Barclays Center and worked out at HSS Training Center and utilized the Nets staff and facilities. They now have their own home arena, the renovated Nassau Coliseum, and use a local community center in New Cassell as their training facility.

• Long Island Nets Announce Coaching and Basketball Operations Staff Additions - Long Island Nets