Dwane Casey was hired as the new head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Casey comes to Minnesota after spending 11 years on the coaching staff of the Seattle SuperSonics, including the last four as associate head coach. Prior to joining Seattle for the 1994-95 campaign, he served as a head coach in Japan for five years. "It's been a long time coming for me," Casey said. "I've come up through the trenches. I feel like I've paid my dues and I look forward to coming to an exciting team." The 48-year-old Casey starred at the University of Kentucky and helped the Wildcats to a national championship in 1978. He then began his coaching career at the school in 1979 as a graduate assistant. Casey later became an assistant under Clem Haskins at Western Kentucky (1980-85), before serving on Eddie Sutton's staff at Kentucky from 1985-1990. Minnesota was in need of a full-time head coach after Flip Saunders was fired in mid-February. The Timberwolves were 25-26 when Saunders was dismissed and vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale took over for the remainder of the 2004-05 campaign. Minnesota ended the season 44-38 and failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 1996. McHale stated all along that he did not want the head coaching job on a permanent basis. "After interviewing numerous qualified candidates and discussing their attributes, we feel as though we landed the best possible candidate for this position," McHale said. "Dwane has played a major role in the success they have had in Seattle, and he has prepared himself well to become a head coach in this league." The Timberwolves will have the 14th overall pick in this month's NBA Draft. "They had a hiccup last season," Casey said. "This is probably the highest draft choice that they've had, fortunately. That's a good thing. It's not a team that's down, it needs a little tweaking, especially on the defensive end."