Celtics Assistant, Blazers Ex Damon Stoudamire to Become Georgia Tech Head Coach

Former Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damon Stoudamire is a signature on the dotted lines away from officially being named head coach for the Georgia Tech men’s basketball program.

ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news via Twitter earlier today...

Stoudamire, 49, began his coaching career in 2008 with the Rice University Owls men’s basketball program as the director of player development.

He then made a temporary leap to the NBA ranks in the 2009-10 NBA season, joining the Memphis Grizzlies as an assistant, where they failed to make the playoffs in both seasons. Stoudamire stayed in Tennessee and dropped back down to the college ranks in 2011-12 as an assistant with the University of Memphis Tigers.

After spending two seasons with the Tigers, he accepted a position as an assistant with the University of Arizona Wildcats in 2013 — his alma mater. Stoudamire played under coach Lute Olson from 1994-98, where he was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year and consensus McDonald’s All American as a freshman (1995).

Stoudamire would return to the Memphis Tigers in 2015, before embarking upon a five-year tenure with the Pacific Tigers, his first head coaching gig. The NBA called his number once more, and he’s been an assistant with the Boston Celtics since the start of the 2021-22 NBA season. The Celtics made it to the NBA Finals last season and are currently the No. 2 overall seed in the NBA at 47-21.

Now, Stoudamire will walk into a Georgia Tech program that recently fired former head coach Josh Pastner on Friday, Mar. 10 per ESPN. Pastner led Georgia Tech to the NCAA D1 Men’s basketball tournament only once in seven seasons.

Stoudamire looks to bring grit to the team, channeled from his days as the floor general for the Portland ‘Jail Blazers’ that went as far as the Western Conference Finals in 2000 before losing to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.