New NIU head basketball coach Rob Judson has added his first coaching assistant with the well-traveled Mike Shepherd.

In Shepherd, who served this year as the Atlanta Hawks’ advanced scout, Judson is happy to add someone with NBA experience on his resume.

“I think it’s a big bonus to us that he has been in the NBA,” Judson said.

Starting his coaching career as a team manager at Kansas State in the late 1980s, Shepherd developed a chemistry with then-Wildcat head coach Lon Kruger. Following Kruger to the University of Florida as an assistant, Shepherd had his fair share of success, helping to guide the Gators to a 1994 NCAA Final Four appearance.

After Florida, Kruger jumped at the opportunity to coach at the University of Illinois and brought along his trusted assistant, Shepherd.

Illinois is where Shepherd met and developed his tight-niche relationship with Judson for four years.

As an in-house assistant, Shepherd was in charge of running the team camps at Illinois. With the Illini bringing 70 high school teams to Champaign every summer for their tournament, he developed countless contacts with coaches throughout the state. During the summer of 1998, with Kruger helping out with the U.S. Dream Team, Shepherd got a taste of the recruiting scene.

Kruger jetted for an NBA job with the Atlanta Hawks last year, and Shepherd was invited to scout for the NBA.

“I wanted to hire a coach with some major college coaching experience, and Mike fills that void,” Judson said. “I’ve been with him for four years at Illinois. I’m really excited to have Mike Shepherd join us. A lot of the high school coaches know him, and he is someone I know and have had a lot of experience with.”