"I'm comfortable with him because I know what he brings to the table," Scott said. "He is an excellent worker with the big guys. I loved his work ethic last year, and I watched his interaction with the players and I thought it was perfect. When I called most of the bigs and told them I was making the move to hire Rob, they all thought it was a great choice."

Last season, Werdann occasionally worked with Hornets centers Tyson Chandler, Hilton Armstrong and Sean Marks.

Werdann is coaching the Hornets' summer league team that will play the Los Angeles Clippers tonight at UNLV's Cox Pavilion.

Werdann began his coaching career as an assistant for the Yakima Sun Kings of the CBA in 2000-01. He also spent three seasons as an assistant for the Columbus Riverdragons in the NBA Development League.

"It's a great opportunity and something that I've been working toward," Werdann said. "I've been a scout for the past five years. It has given me a good understanding of the league. This is a step that I've always wanted to take, and I'm just so grateful to coach and the Hornets' staff for giving me the opportunity."

Scott plans to hire a fourth assistant and is considering former Hornets guard Robert Pack and former Newman and LSU guard Randy Livingston among others. Earlier this summer Scott said he was interested in hiring a young coach trying to break into NBA coaching for the first time.

"As far as hiring a fourth assistant, we're not entertaining that as of yet," Scott said. "We're going to get through summer league first, and then it will be the last thing on my agenda."