NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Vanderbilt has hired Jerry Stackhouse its next head basketball coach. The deal was first reported by ESPN.
Stackhouse, 44, was an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies. He emerged as Vanderbilt’s top target over the weekend as new athletic director Malcolm Turner ramped up his first coaching search.
Stackhouse is an outside of the box hire with no college coaching experience, but is considered a good developer of talent with his only head coaching stop coming in the NBA’s development league. That’s where Turner, now in his third month on the job at Vandy, first became aware of Stackhouse the coach during his tenure as the President of what is now called the NBA G-League.
Before being hired by the Grizzlies, Stackhouse was as an assistant for the Raptors, working as the franchise's D-league team head coach. In his only season with the team he led Raptors 905 to the D-League championship trophy, which was presented to him by Turner. He was also named the league’s Coach of the Year in 2017.
Prior to that, Stackhouse played 18 seasons in the NBA with the Pistons, Wizards, Mavericks, Bucks, Heat, Hawks and Nets. He was selected to two All-Star games after being selected no. 3 overall in the 1995 NBA Draft out of North Carolina.
Vanderbilt parted ways with Bryce Drew last month after a 9-23 season in which the Commodores went 0-18 in SEC ply. Drew finished with a 40–59 record in three seasons with the program and only reached the NCAA tournament in his first season.
