WESTWEGO - The New Orleans Hornets introduced veteran coach Randy Ayers as the newest edition to their coaching staff on Wednesday at the Alario Center.

Despite becoming the most experienced coach on Hornets head coach Monty Williams' new staff, Mike Malone will be the team's lead assistant.

Hornets new assistant coach Randy Ayers at the Alario Center in Westwego."I'd like to thank the Hornets organization," Ayers said. "When (Williams) first got the job, we talked briefly about this opportunity and then kind of got away from it as he put together some other parts of his staff. I was really happy when he called me the last couple of days and we talked about finalizing this."

Williams, embarking on his first-year as a head coach on any level, said he contacted Ayers about joining him in New Orleans in the first few days following his hire by the Hornets. Now, he finally has his man.

"I can't tell you guys how excited I am to have Randy here to help me," explained Williams. "I needed some wisdom. The man has been a head coach on the college level and the NBA and in a number of systems and had a ton of success."

After serving as an assistant coach under Larry Brown in Philadelphia, Ayers was the head coach of the Sixers for part of the 2003-04 season, posting a 21-31 record. Last season, he served as an assistant with the 76ers.  Other NBA coaching stops for Ayers include time with Orlando and Washington. He also was assistant coach at Ohio State for six seasons before taking over the reigns as head coach of the Buckeyes for 8 years.

Williams also announced that Fred Vincent will join his staff an assistant coach focusing on young player development.

“(Vincent's) also a guy that is a big-time hire for us,” Williams said. “I brought Fred in here specifically for (rookies) Quincy (Pondexter) and Craig (Brackins), and Darren (Collison) and Marcus (Thornton) because of his player development acumen.”

The Hornets did not comment on reports that Gerald Madkins will become the organization's new Director of Scouting.

Aisstant coaches Bryan Gates and James Borrego round out the current Hornets staff.

Hornets Bio on Vinson:

Vinson, a Georgia Tech graduate, had been an assistant for the L.A. Clippers since 2007. During his time with L.A., he also served as the Director of Player Programs in those years, mentoring younger players to ease their transition in life in the NBA.

Born on Jan. 28, 1971, Vinson played parts of the 1994-95 and 1999-2000 seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and Seattle SuperSonics, tallying career averages of 1.3 points and 5.2 minutes per game. Vinson also averaged 3.3 points per game for the Clippers during the 2005-06 NBA preseason. He was also a member of the 2002-03 CBA champions Yakima Sun Kings, coached by former Portland Trail Blazer coach Bill Bayno. Vinson also played for SLUC Nancy, in Nancy, France during the 2003-04 season.