The Milwaukee Bucks have named Darvin Ham, Taylor Jenkins, Charles Lee, Ben Sullivan and Patrick St. Andrews as assistant coaches on the staff of Head Coach Mike Budenholzer. Additionally, Sean Sweeney has been retained by the Bucks as an assistant coach.
"I’m thrilled to have my staff together again as we work to help improve our players and build sustained success here in Milwaukee," Budenholzer said. "I am also excited to work with Sean, who is highly thought of in the league. All six coaches are great people and each brings a variety of expertise and experience. They all possess a tremendous work ethic and have great track records in player development. I know our players will benefit from their coaching."
Ham spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach with Atlanta, including the last two as the lead assistant under Budenholzer. He began his coaching career in 2008, first as an assistant and then as general manager and head coach of the New Mexico Thunderbirds of the NBA Development League. Ham joined the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff in 2011 where he worked two seasons before joining the Hawks.
Ham played eight NBA seasons for six teams, including three years for the Bucks (1999-2002). He won an NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Ham played internationally in Spain, the Philippines and Puerto Rico before retiring from the NBA after the 2004-05 campaign.
Jenkins also spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach with Atlanta. Previously he served as the head coach of the Austin Toros of the NBA G League, the San Antonio Spurs affiliate. In 2012-13, Jenkins led the Toros to a first-round playoff victory over the Bakersfield Jam before falling to the Santa Cruz Warriors in the semifinals.
Prior to being named head coach, Jenkins served as an assistant coach with the Toros the previous four seasons, including their championship season in 2012 and playoff appearances in 2009 and 2010. Before joining the Toros, Jenkins interned with the Spurs basketball operations department during the 2007-08 season.
Lee spent the previous four seasons as an assistant coach with Atlanta. Prior to joining the NBA ranks, he was an assistant coach for two years at Bucknell University, his alma mater. As a player, Lee helped guide the Bison to two straight Patriot League Championships and consecutive NCAA Tournament second round appearances (2005-06). After graduating with a degree in business management, the Gaithersburg, Maryland, native played professionally in Israel, Belgium and Germany.
Sullivan served as an assistant coach with Atlanta for the last four seasons. Before joining the Hawks, he worked in basketball development and as an assistant video coordinator with the San Antonio Spurs. He played collegiately at Cal-State Northridge and University of Portland, competing professionally in China, Germany and Chile following graduation. Sullivan joined the University of Portland’s coaching staff in 2009, then was an assistant coach at Lewis & Clark College in Portland before joining the Spurs.
In 2014-15, Ham, Jenkins, Lee and Sullivan were all part of Budenholzer’s Eastern Conference All-Star coaching staff, as the Hawks recorded a team-record 60 wins – including a team-best 19-game win streak – en route to the club’s first-ever appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals.
St. Andrews was named an assistant coach with Atlanta in 2017. He began his NBA career in 2013 with the Hawks as a seasonal assistant in basketball operations and moved to assistant video coordinator prior to the 2014-15 season. He was promoted to head video coordinator for the 2016-17 campaign. St. Andrews worked as an assistant coach for the Dominican Republic National Team for the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City. A two-year captain on the basketball team at Penn St. Behrend, St. Andrews earned bachelor’s degrees in Business Economics and International Business, and a master’s degree in Business Administration.
Sweeney returns to the Bucks bench for his fifth season and first under Budenholzer. Before joining the Bucks, he was an assistant coach in Brooklyn for one season and prior to that spent two seasons as the Nets assistant video coordinator.
Before entering the NBA ranks, Sweeney served as the video coordinator for the University of Northern Iowa, and previously held the position of director of basketball operations at the University of Evansville. He’s also held assistant coaching positions at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Cambridge, Minn., and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Sweeney played one season at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay before transferring home to the University of St. Thomas where he was a three-year starter and earned All-Conference honors as a senior in 2005-06.
