FILE PHOTO: Jan 19, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse talks during a timeout against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. The Raptors beat the Grizzlies 119-90. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
April 2, 2019
Former NBA All-Star Jerry Stackhouse has had discussions with Vanderbilt officials to become the program’s next men’s basketball coach, according to multiple reports.
On Monday, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports wrote on Twitter that Stackhouse was in “contract negotiations” with Vanderbilt, and that he “emerged as a primary candidate in the last 24 hours.”
Currently an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies, Stackhouse’s only previous experience as a head coach came in the NBA G League with the Raptors 905 team from 2016-18.
He led the team to the title in 2017 and was named coach of the year in the G League, where he also got to know Vanderbilt athletic director Malcolm Turner, the former president of the G League.
The third overall pick of the Philadelphia 76ers in 1995 out of North Carolina, Stackhouse averaged 16.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists during an NBA career from 1995-2013, and was an All-Star with the Detroit Pistons in 2000 and 2001.
On March 22, Vanderbilt fired coach Bryce Drew after a 9-23 season punctuated by a 0-18 record in the Southeastern Conference.
Drew was halfway into a six-year contract. In three years coaching the Commodores, Drew compiled a 40-59 record.
His tenure started with a promising season in 2016-17 that ended in a 19-16 record and an NCAA Tournament berth, but it was followed by a pair of sub-.500 seasons.
This season, the Commodores were the first team without a win in SEC play in 65 years.
–Field Level Media
