The Jazz are expected to soon name Sidney Lowe as an assistant coach, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned.

Lowe's hire is not 100-percent finalized. It is expected to go through, though, and could be announced as soon as Thursday.

If hired, Lowe would round out Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin's staff, joining assistants Scott Layden and Jeff Hornacek, who are expected to return once the NBA lockout ends

Corbin has not operated with a full staff since taking over Feb. 10 as Utah's coach. That move followed the resignations of former Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan and longtime assistant Phil Johnson. Corbin was promoted after Sloan stepped down, while Hornacek switched from a part-time shooting consultant to a full-time assistant. No one has officially replaced Johnson, though, an Xs and Os guru that Sloan trusted and heavily relied upon.

Lowe resigned March 15 as North Carolina State's coach after five seasons. He previously coached the Minnesota Timberwolves and Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies.

Lowe, 51, crossed paths with Corbin as an assistant in Minnesota, and played with ex-Jazzman Thurl Bailey on the Wolfpacks' 1983 team that won the NCAA men's basketball championship.

Utah initially waited to add a new full-time assistant due to the uncertainty surrounding the work stoppage. The labor situation is still fluid, the entire 2011-12 preseason was canceled Tuesday, and the first two weeks of regular-season games will be erased next Monday if league owners and players are unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement.

Corbin was given the greenlight to move on a hire in early September, though, and he expressed excitement about adding a new assistant to his staff during a local radio interview Wednesday.

If the Lowe hire becomes official, Utah will have added two widely respected basketball names during the lockout. The Jazz hired Rich Sheubrooks on Sept. 12 as executive director of global and professional scouting.

Utah might also add a player development coach in the future.

Brian T. Smith

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