[1] He then spent 13 years as an assistant under Williams at both Kansas and North Carolina before starting his own head coaching career.

Born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, California, Haase is one of five siblings, all of whom have played an intercollegiate sport.

[3]: 12–13  Haase and his South Tahoe High School team faced off against their larger rival Western High for the state title in consecutive years, with South Tahoe winning in Haase's senior year in one of the most notable contests in state basketball history.

[3]: 13 In Haase's junior year recruiters started to notice his ability, and he was invited to many college showcase camps.

Haase moved into the starting lineup and averaged 12 points and three assists through the first ten games for the California Golden Bears.

[3]: 24  During his freshman season at Cal, after a game against USC, Haase got a phone call from his mother saying that she took his father, to the hospital because of an infection near his ankle.

He was named a co-captain and was in the starting lineup with Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard, Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce.

After Haase's senior season he co-wrote a book entitled Floor Burns with author Mark Horvath.

The book describes the 1996–1997 season when the Jayhawks were ranked number one for 15 consecutive weeks but lost to Arizona in the NCAA tournament.

[4] When his short career in Macedonia ended he decided to self-publish his book Floor Burns and revisit towns around Kansas giving instructional basketball camps.

Haase had many responsibilities in Chapel Hill including coaching the North Carolina Tar Heels junior varsity basketball team.

Haase won 255 out of 317 games in nine seasons as an assistant coach for Roy Williams, with both Kansas and North Carolina.