Citing health reasons, Duane Ticknor has decided not to return as head coach of the Dakota Wizards.

Ticknor, who lasted two years in his second stint with the Wizards, said he would rather be an assistant coach because of recent health complications.

Ticknor, who has diabetes, recently had a cataract removed and a lens replacement done on his left eye. He will be getting the same surgery done on his right eye this summer. He said the procedure was a relatively simple one, but he doesn't want to take any chances.

"It was a family decision that I'm not going to take any head coaching job, for my health," Ticknor said. "It's not that anything major is wrong, but I'm just at the point where Idon't need that day-to-day stress of being a head coach.

"… Both sides left on good terms."

Ticknor said he is looking at a couple of possibilities, both inside and outside the D-League. One of them is as an assistant with the Sioux Falls Skyforce, which recently hired Tony Fritz as its new head coach. Ticknor still has family in the area, which makes that job even more appealing.

"There's nothing official, but they have talked with me," Ticknor said.

Ticknor's two-year deal expired after this season, when he led the Wizards to a 27-23 record and a trip to the D-League semfinals.

Both sides made it clear they were exploring other options - the Wizards even put an ad on their Web site looking for resumes - but had been keeping the possibility open for a Ticknor return.

"We wish him nothing but the best," Wizards owner Steve McCormick said. "He gave us a couple of really good years, and he has a lot of basketball knowledge."

Second act

The Wizards were a floundering franchise when Ticknor first joined them for the 1999-2000 season. Ticknor took over a team that had been the International Basketball Association's worst the previous season, and guided them to a 30-6 record, including an 18-0 mark at home. But after claiming his fourth IBA coach of the year award, he left the team.

Ticknor made stops with the Siouxland Bombers and the CBA's Gary Steelheads before his diabetes - at that point undiagnosed - forced him out of basketball.

He returned to coach the high school team of his son, David. After David's graduation, Ticknor wanted to get back in the pros. When Dave Joerger was hired by the NBA after his second stint with the Wizards, Ticknor was called on to replace his former protege.

In 2007-08, Ticknor guided the Wizards to a 29-21 record and a Central Division title, but the team lost in the quarterfinals. He followed that up with last year's 27-23 mark.

It was Ticknor's eighth winning campaign in his 10 full seasons as a professional head coach. His career mark is 253-165, 86-50 with the Wizards.

"I've had a lot of fun,"Ticknor said. "I'll never regret my three years up there."

Up next

McCormick confirmed that the Wizards talked to Bob MacKinnon - who guided the Colorado 14ers to the 2009 D-League title in his first season as their head coach - about the position. But MacKinnon declined the position.

Scott Schroeder, the Wizards director of public and media relations, said the team plans on interviewing five candidates on Monday and Tuesday. Schroeder said that those five candidates are not set, but one of them will be Deane Martin, who was Ticknor's assistant in 2007-08.

Schroeder said that the team would like to have a coach hired by July 4, but McCormick added that the team would not rush into any decisions.