Well-known throughout the basketball world for his success as a player and coach at the collegiate and professional levels, Damon Stoudamire became the 15th head coach in Georgia Tech men’s basketball history on March 14, 2023.
In his first year on The Flats, Stoudamire and his staff brought in nine new players, including four freshmen, and guided the Yellow Jackets to 14 wins, including three over top-25 teams Mississippi State, Duke and North Carolina. The Jackets beat five teams that reached the post-season, including NCAA Sweet 16 teams Clemson, Duke and North Carolina.
He and the staff have followed that by attracting a recruiting class that has been ranked No. 13 nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Stoudamire came to Georgia Tech after most recently serving as an assistant coach of the Boston Celtics, who currently sit atop the NBA’s Atlantic Division standings. He was with the Celtics for nearly two seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23), after a successful five-season stint as the head coach at Pacific (2016-21). At Pacific, he was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading the Tigers to a 23-10 record in 2019-20, good for the program’s best winning percentage (.697) in 15 years, and a third-place finish in the powerful WCC (behind only national powers Gonzaga and St. Mary’s). He also was honored with the Ben Jobe Award, given annually to the nation’s top minority head coach.
“Congratulations to Damon and Georgia Tech. We are thankful for everything that Damon has contributed during in his time in Boston. He’s a great teammate – he works hard, he cares about everyone in the room, and he has a special feel for the game. We will all miss having him here, but are thrilled for him and will be rooting for his success with the Yellow Jackets.” – Brad Stevens, President of Basketball Operations, Boston Celtics
“Damon is a great person, successful leader, and will be a great head coach. He has an ability to build genuine relationships, connect with players, and bring an organization together for a common goal. His loyalty, basketball experience, work ethic and personality made the Celtics better. We will miss him as a person and coach. Georgia Tech is lucky to have him.” – Joe Mazzulla, Head Coach, Boston Celtics
Name: Damon Stoudamire | Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Family: Daughter: Kemeco; Sons: Damon and Brandon | Joined Tech Staff: March 14, 2023
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Arizona (2008)
Playing Experience: Lettered four years at Arizona (1991-95), Toronto Raptors (1995-98), Portland Trail Blazers (1998-2005), Memphis Grizzlies (2005-08), San Antonio Spurs (2008)
Coaching Experience: Rice, director of player development (2008-09), Memphis Grizzlies, assistant coach (2009-11), Memphis, assistant coach (2011-13), Arizona, assistant coach (2013-15), Memphis, assistant coach (2015-16), Pacific, head coach (2016-21), Boston Celtics, assistant coach (2021-23), Georgia Tech, head coach (2023-present)
Honors: All-Pac-10 Conference (1993, 1994, 1995), Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year (1995), Consensus first-team All-American (1995), finalist for the Wooden Award (1995), West Coast Conference Coach of the Year (2020), Ben Jobe Award (2020)
Post-Season as a player and coach: NCAA Tournament as a player (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995), NCAA Final Four as a player at Arizona (1994), NCAA Tournament as an assistant coach at Arizona (2014, 2015), NCAA Tournament as an assistant coach at Memphis (2012, 2013), NBA Finals as an assistant coach with Boston Celtics (2022)
Well-known throughout the basketball world for his success as a player and coach at the collegiate and professional levels, Damon Stoudamire became the 15th head coach in Georgia Tech men’s basketball history on March 14, 2023.
In his first year on The Flats, Stoudamire and his staff brought in nine new players, including four freshmen, and guided the Yellow Jackets to 14 wins, including three over top-25 teams Mississippi State, Duke and North Carolina. The Jackets beat five teams that reached the post-season, including NCAA Sweet 16 teams Clemson, Duke and North Carolina. He and the staff have followed that by attracting a recruiting class that has been ranked No. 20 nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Stoudamire came to Georgia Tech after most recently serving as an assistant coach of the Boston Celtics, who currently sit atop the NBA’s Atlantic Division standings. He was with the Celtics for nearly two seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23), after a successful five-season stint as the head coach at Pacific (2016-21). At Pacific, he was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading the Tigers to a 23-10 record in 2019-20, good for the program’s best winning percentage (.697) in 15 years, and a third-place finish in the powerful WCC (behind only national powers Gonzaga and St. Mary’s). He also was honored with the Ben Jobe Award, given annually to the nation’s top minority head coach.
“We are thrilled that Damon Stoudamire is the head coach of our storied men’s basketball program,” Georgia Tech director of athletics J Batt said. “Coach Stoudamire’s success and credibility as a player and coach at both the collegiate and professional levels make him a great fit to lead our program. He will serve as an outstanding mentor on and off the court and will attract talented student-athletes to The Flats. We could not be happier to welcome Coach Stoudamire to the Georgia Tech family.”
“His impressive track record as a coach in college and the NBA, and his own experience as a student-athlete and professional player, will be invaluable assets for the Institute’s men’s basketball program and our student-athletes,” Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera said. “His passion for player development and continuous improvement aligns with our culture of excellence and our commitment to student well-being and success.”
Stoudamire established himself as one of his generation’s premier players when he was a three-time all-conference performer, the 1995 Pac 10 co-Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American at Arizona, where he played for four seasons from 1991-95. After helping lead the Wildcats to the Final Four as a junior in 1994, he capped his collegiate career by averaging 22.8 points per game, en route to the co-conference Player of the Year and consensus first-team All-America recognition in 1995. He was a finalist for 1995 Wooden Award (National Player of the Year).
At the conclusion of his Arizona career, Stoudamire was the Wildcats’ all-time leader in 3-pointers made (272) and ranked second in points (1,849) and fourth in assists (663). He was the only player in Arizona history with two 40-point games.
His amateur career also included helping lead the United States to the gold medal in the 1993 World University Games (where he led the team in assists and steals despite being the youngest player on the roster) and the bronze at the 1994 Goodwill Games.
Stoudamire was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the seventh overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft and averaged 13.4 points and 6.1 assists per game over the course of a 13-year professional playing career that included stints with the Raptors (1995-98), Portland Trail Blazers (1998-05), Memphis Grizzlies (2005-08) and San Antonio Spurs (2008). He was named the 1996 NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 19 points and 9.3 assists per game in his first NBA campaign, the first of four-straight seasons that he averaged at least 17 points and eight assists per contest.
Following the conclusion of his NBA playing career in 2008, Stoudamire immediately embarked on his coaching career, beginning as director of player development at Rice in 2008-09. He then went on to serve as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies for two seasons (2009-11), before getting back into the college game with stints as an assistant at Memphis (2011-13), his alma mater Arizona (2013-15) and again at Memphis (2015-16).
After helping lead Memphis and Arizona to four conference championships (two Conference USA titles at Memphis, two Pac-12 crowns at Arizona) and four NCAA Tournament berths (including back-to-back Elite Eight appearances at Arizona) in six seasons, Stoudamire was hired as the head coach at Pacific in 2016. He inherited a program coming off an 8-20 campaign and quickly built it into a WCC contender, highlighted by the 23-10 campaign in 2019-20. The Tigers’ 11-5 conference record that season remains their most-ever wins in WCC play. Combined with a 9-9 record in league play in 2017-18, Stoudamire led Pacific to its only two .500-or-better conference records since the Tigers joined the WCC in 2013-14.
After posting a 9-9 overall record during the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season, Stoudamire returned to the NBA as an assistant coach for the Celtics. In his first season in Boston, he helped lead the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals. The Celtics stood in first place in the Atlantic Division and in second both in the Eastern Conference and in the NBA’s overall league standings at the time he took the Tech position. With Boston, he coached a pair of metro-Atlanta natives in Malcolm Brogdon (Norcross, Ga.) and Jaylen Brown (Alpharetta, Ga.).
“I am humbled and honored to be the head coach at Georgia Tech,” Stoudamire said. “It is an incredible honor to be entrusted with leading such a tradition-rich program. I am excited to get to work with the goal of consistently having our team compete at the championship level that we all know we can and should compete at. I’m proud to represent Georgia Tech and can’t wait to walk out of the tunnel and onto the floor at the Thrillerdome in front of our fans. Go Jackets!”
A Portland, Ore. native, Stoudamire, 50, graduated from Woodrow Wilson H.S. in 1991 and earned his bachelor’s degree from Arizona in 2008. He has a daughter, Kemeco, and two sons, Damon and Brandon.
— Damon Stoudamire (@Iambiggie503) March 28, 2023
Damon Stoudamire on the #CollegeHoopsToday Podcast:
His decision to return to college basketball, getting Georgia Tech’s brand back, the state of the ACC, and much more.https://t.co/6Gd7htgdQD
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 21, 2023
