Rex Walters has joined the Detroit Pistons as an assistant coach and will work on Stan Van Gundy¡¯s staff next season.

Walters, 47, served as the Grand Rapids Drive head coach last season, guiding the Pistons¡¯ NBA Development League (now known as the NBA G League) team to a 26-24 record. He joins a Pistons coaching staff that includes Tim Hardaway and Otis Smith.

Before his lone season with Grand Rapids, Walters led the University of San Francisco men¡¯s squad for eight seasons (2008-16) and served as the Florida Atlantic University bench boss from 2006-08.

¡°Rex brings great knowledge and experience and does a great job of developing young players,¡± Van Gundy said in a statement. ¡°We were very happy with the way he worked with our young Pistons players last season when they were on assignment in Grand Rapids.¡±

A first-round draft pick of the New Jersey Nets in 1993, Walters, a Japanese-American from San Jose, suited up for the Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat during his NBA career.

Now, he embraces his new challenge with the Pistons.

¡°I¡¯m excited about it,¡± Walters, a University of Kansas alum, told the Kansas City Star. ¡°I really enjoyed the D-League, (but) obviously when Stan presented this as an option, I jumped at it. . .¡±

In an interview with The Japan Times, Walters elaborated on his outlook for the 2017-18 campaign.

What¡¯s your main goal for 2017-18 in this new position? Walters was asked.

¡°Help our players develop as basketball players and help them understand what our coaching staff wants on the court on game night,¡± Walters told The Japan Times in an email.

He was also asked this: Were there talks for several weeks about this as a possible promotion?

¡°No real talks,¡± Walters said. ¡°He (Van Gundy) asked about a month ago about the G League and last season. Then discussed either joining the staff or staying in Grand Rapids.¡±