Sidney Lowe’s going back to the NBA.

The Utah Jazz hired the former N.C. State head coach as an assistant on Thursday, the team announced.

Lowe joins coach Tyrone Corbin’s staff with the Jazz and returns to the NBA, where he worked for 16 years as an assistant and head coach before taking the top job at N.C. State in April 2006.

After going 86-78 in five seasons at N.C. State without an NCAA tournament appearance, Lowe resigned in March. Details of his new deal with the Jazz were not available, but he’s owed about $1 million a year, for the next two years, by N.C. State. The annual total of the contract with Utah will be deducted from the amount that N.C. State has to pay out Lowe.

Lowe, 51, was the point guard on N.C. State’s 1983 national championship team and came back to his alma mater to replace Herb Sendek, who left for Arizona State after the 2005-06 season.

After winning 20 games in his first season, and reaching the ACC tournament title game, Lowe’s teams languished in the bottom third of the ACC and twice finished with an overall losing record.

Lowe’s last team, in 2010-11, went 15-16 with a 5-11 mark in the ACC. Lowe was 25-55 in ACC play, which led to his resignation in March after a first-round loss to Maryland in the ACC tournament.

Lowe and Corbin were once teammates with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Lowe was previously an NBA head coach in Minnesota and for the Grizzlies franchise, in both Vancouver and Memphis. He also has worked as an NBA assistant in Cleveland and Detroit.

By Josh Dubow, Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. — Mark Jackson’s leadership skills as a player more than outweighed his lack of coaching experience when it came time for the Golden State Warriors to hire their coach.

The Warriors hired Jackson to replace Keith Smart on Monday, giving the former point guard and television analyst his first chance to be a head coach on the game’s biggest stage.

“He epitomized leadership as a player in this league for 17 seasons and we think that characteristic — and many other positive traits — will translate very well into his coaching duties with our young team,” owner Joe Lacob said in a statement. “He was a leader and a winner both on and off the floor in this league and we’re convinced that he is the right person to guide this team into the future and help us achieve the success that we are striving for as an organization.”

Jackson played 17 years as a point guard in the NBA, for New York, the Clippers, Indiana, Denver, Toronto, Utah and Houston. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 1988 and made the playoffs 14 times. He ranks third on the NBA’s all-time assists list.

But he has never coached, spending the past few seasons as the lead analyst for ESPN and ABC for their NBA coverage. He won’t start his new job until after he’s finished calling the NBA finals.

His first coaching job is a daunting one, taking over a team that has made the playoffs just once since 1994.

“I am really elated about this opportunity and I’m looking forward to the challenge of building the Warriors into a perennial contender,” Jackson said.

Jackson played for five Hall of Fame coaches in his college and pro career: Lou Carnesecca, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry Sloan, Pat Riley and Larry Brown.

Jackson, 46, had been looking to get into coaching while working as an analyst in recent years. He interviewed for the opening in New Orleans last year and was one of three finalists for the Minnesota job in 2009, but lost out to Kurt Rambis. He also interviewed in previous years for openings in Phoenix, New York and Chicago.

He finally ended up getting the offer he wanted from the Warriors, who have made big changes in the front office and coaching staff under Lacob’s new ownership.

“I have sensed that Joe is committed to winning and building a team and a culture the right way,” Jackson said. “I think we all witnessed that with some of the recent front office additions as well and some of the other positive things that have been done in recent months. This is an incredible opportunity.”