The Memphis Grizzlies are set to hire former Arizona interim basketball coach Kevin O'Neill as an assistant to coach Marc Iavaroni, The Commercial Appeal has learned.

O'Neill, who also has NBA coaching experience, will join the Grizzlies' staff as a defensive guru to help one of the league's worst teams on defense the past two seasons.

The 51-year-old former University of Tennessee men's basketball coach took over as interim coach when coach Lute Olson took a personal leave of absence last season. After Olson returned in March, he announced that O'Neill would no longer be a part of his staff.

During his tenure as interim head coach, O'Neill led Arizona to a 19-15 record and the school's 24th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, the nation's longest active streak.

After tenures at Marquette, Tennessee and Northwestern, O'Neill became an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy with the New York Knicks. In 2001, he joined the Detroit Pistons under head coach Rick Carlisle.

O'Neill became head coach of the Toronto Raptors in 2003.