Jerry Stackhouse Is Built For Success At Vanderbilt

The Memphis Grizzlies will be without one of their top assistant coaches going forward. Jerry Stackhouse has proven himself in the coaching world and he will be taking his talents back to college as the head coach of Vanderbilt.

Jerry Stackhouse has spent the last few years in various roles in the NBA as a coach and he has excelled in doing so. He has only spent the past year with the Memphis Grizzlies, but even in that short amount of time, he has shown his worth which is why he is being given this opportunity.

Some will question this move from both perspectives. Hiring NBA assistants to become college head coaches doesn’t always work and on the flip side of that, some don’t know why Stackhouse would do this deal. He had a chance to become an NBA head coach very soon, but that is likely put on hold for at least a few years now.

He has a lot of experience in the NBA in various roles and has been successful in doing so. His coaching in the G-League with the Raptors and as an assistant with the Grizzlies has made him well prepared for this next step in his coaching journey.

College players enjoy playing for former star players. It’s not a similar situation at all, but just look at what Penny Hardaway has done with Memphis. He has completely revitalized the program and while he certainly had ties to the city and program already, Stackhouse is capable of doing something similar at Vanderbilt.

His freshman season of college at North Carolina, but he was a star his sophomore season and that led to him being drafted 3rd overall in the 1995 NBA Draft. He won’t have those top guys to start off, but he knows what it takes to get to the next level and current players know that. These guys who are coming into college now have been fans of his when he was playing. That may not matter to some, but there are many guys who that does matter to as we have seen with many other college programs.

He also had a very successful pro career which included two all-star nods including the 2000-01 season in which he averaged 29.8 points per game. His prime didn’t last as long as he would’ve liked largely due to injuries, but he still has the experience that players will like.

His playing experience is cool and all, but it’s his coaching experience that earned him this job. He started off as an assistant with the Toronto Raptors before being named the coach of the 905 Raptors in the NBA G-League whom he led to a championship in the 2016-17 season which also earned him the G-League Coach of the Year award.

After some time in the Raptors organization, he spent this season in Memphis. He has made a big impact on this team and their development as they build towards the future. His hands-on coaching has been big for him as you can often find him in the gym working with his players. That is something you can expect him to bring to Vanderbilt.

That is one of the reasons that he is set up for success at Vanderbilt. He takes an interest in developing players and that is something college coaches need. His passion for the game is exciting and when you add in his knowledge of the game, you can expect great things.

Bryce Drew had some good moments at Vanderbilt including an NCAA Tournament appearance, but for whatever reason, they decided to move on. The obvious reason is them going winless in SEC play, but with the injury, to Darius Garland, it’s hard to expect a lot out of them.

Stackhouse’s experience made him an obvious candidate, but his ties to Vanderbilt was what made him an ideal candidate. Malcolm Turner is the Vanderbilt Athletic Director who was hired in February and rightfully wanted to get his own guy leading the program. Prior to that, he was the president of the NBA G-League so he knows first hand how good of a coach Stackhouse has proven to be.

Jerry Stackhouse is a worthy candidate, but coaching in the SEC is a different animal. There are so many elite coaches in that conference that he will have to go up against. Not having any college coaching experience coming into this conference is very tough to do. He will have to coach and recruit against coaches such as John Calipari, Rick Barnes, and Bruce Pearl.

His time in the NBA as a coach and his experiences as a player will help him recruit and better help his players, but how he fares in these coaching matchups may determine how successful he is. Obviously, he has to recruit well if he wants a chance to turn this program around, but it may be the X’s and O’s, where he has the biggest disadvantage.

The college game is way different than the NBA, but Stackhouse is prepared. The playing styles are way different, but he can still bring the same coaching mentality he had. His coaching stints over the past few years will help him and will be what makes him a good collegiate coach.