New Orleans Pelicans Announce Organizational Changes To Staff

The Pelicans are beefing up their staff and promoting members within the organization to new roles.

Mar 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the New Orleans Pelicans logo on the shorts of forward Zion Williamson (1) against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans announced several organizational changes, including promotions and new staff hires. Swin Cash was promoted to Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations after her role as vice president of basketball operations and team development. She joined the Pelicans before the 2019-2020 NBA year and has been with them for five seasons.

Cash is basketball royalty. She played 15 years in the WNBA and won three championships. She is a four-time All-Star and a two-time All-Star game MVP and also helped lead the U.S. Women's National Team to two gold medals. After her playing career ended in 2016, Cash became Director of Franchise Development for the New York Liberty.

New Orleans also announced Rohan Ramadas's promotion to Senior Director of Analytics and Innovation. The long-tenured Pelicans employee started as an analytics consultant after being a draft analyst with the Miami Heat in 2016. The Cupertino, California native holds a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degree in astronautical engineering from the University of Southern California.

The Pelicans added many staff members for this upcoming season, including Emeka Akoh (Assistant Strength Coach), Gil Schmidt (assistant athletic trainer), and Conner Smith (Performance Therapist/assistant athletic trainer). They also confirmed hiring Jodie Meeks and Greg Monroe to Willie Green's coaching staff.

Meeks has coached as an assistant with the G League affiliate Birmingham Squadron for the past two seasons. The former 41st pick in the 2009 NBA draft played ten seasons in the league for five teams. During his career, he specialized in three-point shooting and will be brought in to help develop shooting on the Pelicans after shooting guru Fred Vinson took an assistant coaching job with the Detroit Pistons this summer.

Monroe joins the organization as a player development coach after last playing in the NBA in 2020. The New Orleans-area native averaged 13 points and 8.2 rebounds in the league over 646 regular season games. Now, he will coach the young centers on the team with limited experience, including rookie Yves Missi, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Karlo Matkovic, and Trey Jemison. Star forward Zion Williamson also expects to see some time at center this season, a role he played some last year as well.

New Orleans hosts Media Day on Sept. 30th before flying off to Nashville, Tennesee for training camp. The Pelicans training facility is undergoing renovations, so the team returns to Nashville, a site where they've practiced in the past. New Orleans opens their regular season at home against the Chicago Bulls on October 23rd.