From coaching with legendary head coaches in UNC’s storied basketball history, plenty of Tar Heel assistants have since received head coaching opportunities – both in-house and elsewhere.
North Carolina’s current head coach, Hubert Davis, was a longtime Roy Williams understudy. He has UNC, which will play in Saturday’s ACC Championship game against longtime rival NC State, playing like a National Championship contender.
Jerod Haase, another Williams understudy, was an assistant coach in Chapel Hill from 2003-2012. He primarily coached the JV squad, but was part of the coaching staff that led UNC’s 2005 and 2009 National Title-winning teams.
Haase turned his successful stint as a Williams assistant into two head coaching jobs: first at UAB, then at Stanford. Haase led UAB to two wins in the 2015 Big Dance, which Stanford liked and decide to hire him.
As much promise that Haase’s past coaching career delivered, he did not deliver in California.
On Thursday, March 14, after eight seasons leading the Cardinal, Haase was fired.
I am a Jerod Haase guy…then (2016), now, and forever. #ThankYouCJH pic.twitter.com/KQp2AyHRlT
— Brandon Dunson (@BMDunson) March 15, 2024
It’s always tough to see coaches fired, especially when Tar Heel lore is a big part of their past. Haase always seemed like a players’ coach, which makes this news tougher.
If you’ve learned anything from watching sports today, however, it’s that they’re a results-based business. Haase did not produce at Stanford, with the Cardinal’s lone postseason berth being a trip to the NIT in 2017-2018.
Who will be the next man in charge of leading Stanford, the 1942 NCAA Tournament Champions, back to the level of prominence it enjoyed in the late 90’s and early 2000s?
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