Rob Dubois (class of 1999) is barely older than most of the players on the Memphis Grizzlies’ roster, and is actually younger than some of them. But as far as the 30-year-old DuBois is concerned, age is the least of his problems in his first season as an assistant coach in the NBA.

“I never look at the age thing,” said DuBois, who played three seasons at Arizona State. “I tell everyone I work for that age is a mindset. I’ve met guys in their 50s who have more energy than guys in their 20s. And I’ve met guys in their 40s who have less maturity than guys in their 20s.

“I don’t really put a lot of weight into how old I am. I keep saying just be myself. I’ve had a lot of good experiences.”

DuBois also has had some “interesting” experiences. During the summers of 2004 and 2005, for example, he coached the Tijuana Galgos in the LNBP League in Mexico, where soccer is the game of choice for most sports fans.

“The level of play is higher than I expected to see,” DuBois said of the league where teams play 20 home and 20 road games. “I would compare it to top Central American countries.

“We even had some NBA players. It was a very good league, maybe not as good as the Puerto Rican League, but Mexico has an up-and-coming league.”

Most importantly, it provided DuBois with a valuable commodity: experience. After graduating from ASU, he worked as a graduate assistant for one year and was an assistant coach for one season with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

Eventually, he landed a job as an assistant coach at the University of California-Davis where he spent three seasons (2003-06).

“Gary Stewart was the head coach and he told me to go get experience and coach,” DuBois said regarding how he wound up coaching in Mexico. “Instead of recruiting, he let me take time to coach.

“I’m just passionate about basketball. I recruited all year, and when I got a chance to coach all year that’s what I was excited about.”

DuBois opened the door to the NBA when he was hired as the assistant video coordinator for the Phoenix Suns, a position he held from 2001-03, prior to moving to Cal-Davis.

It wasn’t glamorous, but it did enable him to make a connection with then-Suns assistant coach Marc Iavaroni, who is in his first season as the Grizzlies’ head coach.

“I consider [Iavaroni] my mentor,” DuBois said. “I would watch their practices and get advice from him. Eventually, I talked with Marc about where I should go with my career, because the video room isn’t the same as being on the floor coaching.

“Marc told me to go out and get experience. I might have gotten some advice if I wasn’t in Phoenix. But I might not be with the Grizzlies. I could have gone a million ways. But I’m just glad it is what it is and I have no regrets.

“I’m happy with the way things worked out.”

The same could be said of Stewart, who gave DuBois his first big break. “He is certainly deserving of this position [with the Grizzlies],” Stewart said of DuBois. “His knowledge, leadership and coaching abilities are at an elite level. Couple those with his ability to relate to players, and it makes him a total package.

“Memphis got a great one when they hired Ron.”

Ironically, DuBois was in the same position as a grad assistant at ASU as he is now with Memphis — and even more so because he was coaching guys who were his teammates the previous season.

“It wasn’t an issue for me or a problem coaching guys whom I played with,” DuBois said. “If anything I had a good relationship with those guys. I had everyone’s respect.

“It would have been different if I went to a situation where I had to learn the players. I already had their respect.  was in a leadership role the year before [as a team captain] and I learned a ton from the whole staff.”

DuBois had the “opportunity” to play for three different coaches at ASU — Bill Frieder, Don Newman (who served as interim coachafter Frieder departed) and Rob Evans.

“I feel lucky because as the years have gone on all three have helped me,” DuBois said. “I’ve kept in touch with all three of them. I feel like it was a blessing.

“A lot of guys felt it would be tough to have had three coaches, but I got to learn three different coaching styles. I’ve taken things from every one of them. And when I got to work for Rob Evans, I got to see what things were like behind the scenes.”

While playing for Newman during his junior season, the Sun Devils posted a memorable victory over Stanford, which still sticks in DuBois’ memory bank.

“They might have been No. 2 in the country the week before and we beat them on the road,” DuBois recalled. “We had some great wins that year and were one game away from going to the NCAA Tournament. But we lost on the road to USC and went to the NIT.

“I remember playing at Madison Square Garden and beating Cincinnati and then losing in double overtime to Kansas. And I can’t forget a game at Cal-Berkley where Eddie House scored 61 points.”

Looking ahead, DuBois has some lofty goals. “I would like to be a champion,” DuBois said. “I haven’t been a champion yet in my career. Obviously, I’d like to do it at the level I’m at now. But whatever level I’m at in 10 years, I’d like to win a championship every year.”

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