July 25, 2016 – Charlotte Hornets General Manager Rich Cho announced today that Noel Gillespie has been named head coach of the Greensboro Swarm, the team’s new NBA Development League affiliate. Gillespie brings more than 14 years of NBA experience to Greensboro, including the last six as a full-time assistant coach.

“We are very excited to have Noel Gillespie as the head coach of our new D-League team,” said Cho. “His impressive background in player development and his significant experience make him an ideal fit for this role. We are confident that he will be a great leader for the Swarm and will work well with Coach Clifford and the Hornets coaching staff in recognizing and growing potential talent within our system.”

Gillespie joins the Swarm from the Denver Nuggets, where he has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach. Prior to his time in Denver, he spent 10 seasons with the Phoenix Suns. Gillespie started with the Suns in 2003-04, spending one season as assistant video coordinator and four seasons as video coordinator before becoming the team’s advance scout in 2008-09. He was promoted to assistant coach and advance scout in 2009-10, spending one season in the role before being named a full-time assistant coach starting with the 2010-11 season. In 2007, while with the Suns, he was an assistant coach for the Western Conference All-Star Team and the sophomore team at the Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas.

Gillespie is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He got his start in the NBA as a video assistant with the Indiana Pacers in 2001-02 and served as a graduate assistant coach at Florida State University in 2002-03 before joining the Suns.

“I’m honored and excited to become a part of this organization and coach in Greensboro, a city that shares my passion for the sport of basketball,” said Gillespie. “To coach players and create an environment that allows them to reach their full potential is a great opportunity that I am very enthusiastic about.”

A formal press conference to introduce Gillespie will be held in Greensboro in the upcoming weeks.