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ORLANDO, Florida - The coach who took the Orlando Magic to their only NBA Finals appearance has returned.

One day after announcing the resignation of general manager John Weisbrod, the Magic named Brian Hill as their coach.

Hill, who was an assistant with the New Jersey Nets in 2004-05, guided the Magic to three 50-win seasons and an appearance in the 1995 NBA Finals. Of course, then the Magic had superstar center Shaquille O'Neal.

Hill replaces interim coach Chris Jent, who took over for the fired Johnny Davis and coached the last 18 games of the season.

"I always knew that this was a top-flight organization and one that at some point in my career that I was striving to get back to and I'm just very happy with the opportunity to come back as its head coach again," Hill said.

Magic president and chief executive officer Bob Vander Weide selected Hill over Eric Musselman, an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies who previously coached Golden State; and Flip Saunders, the long-time coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves who was fired during the season.

"As we went through this process and talked to several candidates, we kept coming back to one guy - Brian Hill," Vander Weide said. "Brian brings to the table many of the qualities we were looking for throughout this process. He is experienced, disciplined , structure oriented and excellent in regard to game preparation and in-game strategy.

"In addition, he brings a great deal of energy to the post. The bottom line - the organization is excited to have him back and it just feels right."

Hill coached the Magic from 1993-97, guiding them to a Finals appearance against the Houston Rockets in 1995 and a franchise-best 60-22 mark in 1995-96. O'Neal departed as a free agent after that season, and a group of players led by Penny Hardaway undermined Hill's leadership the following season, leading to his dismissal.

Hill became coach of the Vancouver Grizzlies later that year and was just 31-123 in two-plus seasons. He has a career mark of 222-227.

Prior to joining the Nets as an assistant in 2004, Hill spent two seasons as an assistant with the New Orleans Hornets.

"You know when you have something good and you leave it and then you have substitutes, whether it's girlfriends, boyfriends, whatever the case may be, when you have things to compare it to, you realize, 'boy, that situation was pretty darn good,'" Hill said.

He will now attempt to turn around a team that went just 36-46 in 2004-05 despite a tremendous comeback season from forward Grant Hill, who averaged 19.7 points in 67 starts after injuries relegated him to just 47 games the previous three seasons.

This story is from ESPN.com's automated news wire. Wire index