Reggie Theus' mercurial rise through the coaching ranks has propelled him all the way back to the Sacramento Kings.

The Kings reached an agreement in principle Tuesday with Theus to become their new coach, ending a meandering two-month search for Eric Musselman's replacement.

Kings spokesman Troy Hanson said the club plans to introduce Theus, the New Mexico State coach and a former Kings player who twice led the team in scoring, at a news conference Wednesday.

Yet Theus, a 13-year NBA veteran, has almost as much experience playing a coach as an actor on the Saturday-morning kids' show "Hang Time" as in real life.

He transformed the New Mexico State program into an NCAA tournament club in just two seasons, but has never coached in the NBA -- and didn't even get serious about a coaching career until 2003 as an assistant to Rick Pitino at Louisville.