STORRS, Conn. -- First-year UConn head coach Marc Paolini has announced the hiring of Jeff Lombardo as assistant coach. Lombardo is currently the head coach at Avon High School, and he will maintain those duties while also working with the UConn program.

Lombardo and Paolini have a long history together, having both coached at Daniel Hand High School from 2004-12 as head coach and associate head coach, respectively. Since 2008, Lombardo's teams have made the Connecticut state championship tournament every year. He has coached multiple all-state and all-conference players, and his athletes have gone on to play at schools such as Syracuse, Sienna, Michigan and Quinnipiac.

"Coach Lombardo and I worked together at Hand for almost a decade," said Paolini. "He understands our way of coaching as well as anyone. He gets it. There are a lot of guys who understand this game, but not all of them know what it takes to win. He has that combination. He knows our vision for this program and how to help us get there."