A familiar Chicago Bulls name is reportedly on the way back to the organization. Grassroots basketball social media account Hardwood Intel reported that the Windy City Bulls hired former Bulls forward Quincy Pondexter as head coach.
BREAKING: The Windy City Bulls are hiring Quincy Pondexter as their next head coach, per multiple sources. Pondexter joins the Bulls after serving as an assistant since 2021, with stops at USC and Washington. Pondexter played nine seasons in the NBA, most notably with Memphis. pic.twitter.com/VjVtnF8WZc
— Hardwood Intel (@hardwoodintel) August 16, 2026
CHSN’s K.C. Johnson provided additional reporting on Pondexter’s Windy City Bulls hiring as well.
Bulls have hired Quincy Pondexter as head coach of Windy City G League team. The former Bull (2017-18) served as assistant coach at both Washington and USC in NCAA. He also played high school basketball with Robin and Brook Lopez and is the nephew of former Bull Cliff Pondexter
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) August 24, 2026
Hiring Pondexter could be a welcome upside hire for the Bulls organization, as Pondexter’s five seasons as an NCAA assistant coach included working with two players at the University of Washington who successfully made transitions to the NBA in 2024, undrafted wing Keion Brooks Jr. and 2026-27 rookie center Hannes Steinbach.
Pondexter’s only season as a player with the Bulls was the dubious 2017-18 NBA season, the first post-Jimmy Butler Bulls season that started a rebuild, some would argue, is still ongoing.
The NBA is a relationships league, of course, so besides the obvious first-degree connection Pondexter has with the Bulls as a former player for the franchise.
It is also worth noting that Pondexter holds an organizational connection to the Bulls main roster head coach, Tiago Splitter, as a former San Antonio Spurs player coached by Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame head coach and Northwest Indiana basketball legend, Gregg Popovich.
Given that Bulls lead front office executive Bryson Graham built his NBA executive career on player scouting, Bulls fans should be curious as to what degree of pre-existing relationship Graham and Ponder have, since Graham signed Keion Brooks Jr. to an Exhibit 10 contract as general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2024 NBA offseason.
Pondexter’s Windy City Bulls head coach cred
As the NBA’s primary developmental league, a head coach in the NBA G League should be a development-minded basketball coach.
Aside from Pondexter’s NCAA coaching track record, the newly minted Windy City Bulls head coach has an even longer track record coaching on the U.S. youth basketball grassroots circuit, a.k.a. AAU basketball.
Pondexter got his start coaching AAU basketball when he founded his own program in 2015, California United, which merged into the Vegas Elite program in 2018. Pondexter’s notable AAU players include Denver Nuggets wing Julian Strawther, along with 2021 NBA first-round draft selection Josh Christopher.
Youth basketball has been a core feature of Pondexter’s journey into basketball coaching, as he has frequently hosted summer basketball camps in his hometown of Fresno, CA.
Pondexter’s Fresno roots tie a remarkable circle in his basketball career, as he cited Bulls franchise icon Michael Jordan as inspiration for hosting Fresno-based basketball camps, as Jordan traditionally hosted camps in Fresno to support his long-time friend and former Bulls teammate Rod Higgins.
Hopefully, Pondexter can inspire his Windy City Bulls roster to meet the work standard Jordan famously displayed in his pursuit of six NBA championships during his Bulls career.
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