Grizzlies gut coaching staff, hire six new assistants for 2024-25
By Mark Nilon
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Though many may be focusing their attention on Monday night's Summer League tip-off for the Memphis Grizzlies, perhaps the biggest story heading into the festivities is the major facelift the ball club's coach staff just officially endured.
Following their putrid 27-55 finish to the 2023-24 campaign, it was widely expected that the franchise would see new faces coming aboard in an effort to position themselves for a much-needed redemption run in the follow-up season.
Of course, the belief was that said new faces would likely come in the form of on-court contributors and promising player prospects to help bolster coach Taylor Jenkins' arsenal of talent.
Though they did manage to make some of these kinds of moves and additions, headlined by the draft day decision to nab Zach Edey with the ninth overall pick, it appears the most energy was used in their efforts to restructure the Grizzlies coaching staff, as they have parted ways with and subsequently hired six members for Jenkins' support system ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Grizzlies gut coaching staff, hire six new assistants for 2024-25 season
The @memgrizz today finalized the team's assistant coaching staff under Taylor Jenkins entering the 2024-25 season. pic.twitter.com/B3yQ4wFI6k
— Grizzlies PR (@GrizzliesPR) July 7, 2024
Coach Jenkins will only be keeping Patrick St. Andrews and Anthony Carter as the remaining holdovers from his previous staff, who, interestingly enough, were hired just before the start of last year's campaign and were the least tenured assistants compared to those who have been parted ways with (Blake Ahearn, Brad Jones, Scoonie Penn, Sonia Raman, and Vitaly Potapenko).
Coming in are the likes of Joe Boylan, Toumas Iisalo, Noah LaRoche, Jason March, Erick Schmidt, and Patrick Mutombo.
Though all have had successes and varying degrees of experience on the sidelines from their past ventures, in particular, March is the most notable addition to the staff for the Grizzlies, as he previously served as the head coach for the club's G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, and played a major role in the development of several key players.
March will also be leading the charge for many of his old developmental league talents during this year's Summer League, where he'll be reunited with the likes of GG Jackson, Scotty Pippen Jr., and Jake LaRavia and will be introduced to the team's splashy rookie crop headlined by Zach Edey, Jaylen Wells, and Cam Spencer.
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