Sloan marries Herriman woman

In a very private ceremony in the Salt Lake Valley this week, Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan married Tammy Jessop of Herriman.

Sloan and Jessop were engaged near the end of the last Jazz season but hadn't set a date then, said Jazz vice president of communications Linda Luchetti, who added that Jessop had attended several games last season.

Few people from the Jazz were even aware the wedding took place Tuesday until late this week, she said, and Jazz owner Larry H. Miller indicated in a radio interview Thursday that Sloan's grown children, who live in Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska, did not attend the small ceremony.

The bride and groom then traveled to Sloan's home in McLeansboro, Ill., and he was to be back in Salt Lake City next week to prepare for the season. Training camp starts Oct. 2, and the first regular-season game is Nov. 1 with Houston in the Delta Center.

Former Jazz player Thurl Bailey is among those happy for his former coach.

"He's alone, and to be able to find somebody to make you happy, I think that's awesome," he told KSL-TV.

Jessop works for a company that supplies food for restaurants in the area. She has a grade-school-age son, Rhett.

Sloan lost his first wife, Bobbye, to pancreatic cancer in June 2004.