By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo Credit: Getty Images
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are moving on from head coach Damon Stoudamire.
The Yellow Jackets finished last in the ACC conference, losing 12 straight league games to close the season. In three seasons running the program, Stoudamire went 42-55, and the team never made an NCAA tournament appearance under his leadership.
It’s a disappointing finish for Stoudamire, since the program felt he would be the right candidate to turn it around. Unfortunately, the promise did not live up to the expectations the program and fanbase had. Many Yellow Jacket fans are feeling satisfied with this firing, but the program still has a long way to go.
Stoudamire played 14 seasons in the NBA. He won rookie of the year in 1996 as a member of the Toronto Raptors. Stoudamire’s coaching career began at Rice in 2008, but he started as an assistant during his time with the Memphis Grizzlies. Other stops and experiences include Memphis Tigers, Arizona Wildcats (his alma mater), and Boston Celtics, before getting hired at Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech was his first job as a head coach. Stoudamire will land another job somewhere because of his basketball knowledge, and he needs to gain more coaching experience to see if he can change certain aspects of his decision-making. In 2020, he received WCC Coach of the Year honors.
Stoudamire is owed $2.6 million over the next two years. It’s going to be interesting to see whether Georgia Tech will continue to pay him or try to do something about it. The board of trustees and everyone else in charge of the program will shift their focus to the next head coach for Georgia Tech.
New athletic director Ryan Alpert will have his hands full because he also needs to focus on the transfer portal. The Yellow Jackets haven’t had a coach with a winning record since Paul Hewitt (190-162), who coached from 2000 through 2011. Hewitt made five NCAA tournament trips during his tenure and was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2001.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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