The occupant inside the Orem boys basketball coaches' office will be different, but the name on the door will be almost the same.

"It's pretty exciting," O'Connor said. "It'll be a nice challenge."

Although he is taking over the program relatively late in the year, O'Connor believes he has an advantage because he has coached several of Orem's players before as the coach of Pump 'n' Run, a local club team.

"The challenge is getting to know the kids and them getting to know the system that I run compared to what was there. It needs to be smooth for everyone," O'Connor said. "The good thing is I know some of the kids there and have seen them play. I think the transition will go really well."

As coach of Pump 'n' Run over the past four years, O'Connor has coached some of the top players in the valley over the past several years. This summer, he coached Orem's Ian Harward and Pablo Coro. He also coached other local stars such as Provo's Brandon Davies and Kyle Collinsworth. O'Connor plans to continue coaching the club team during the summer.

O'Connor, who went to high school in the Long Beach area, began his coaching career at Bellflower High School in California. From there, he went to Lehi High School, where he left amidst controversy.

At Orem, O'Connor will be coaching his first boys high school team. However, the challenge might not be as great considering the talent that Orem has returning.

"Obviously people have high expectations because there's some talent. Hopefully we can all come together and do a great job," O'Connor said. "In the end you hope you can get all the kids to play together as a team and work hard and play hard and not leave anything out on the floor."