A first glance at Damon Stoudamire’s Georgia Tech squad is about what you’d expect for a new coach taking over a struggling program.
They are 10-11 on the year, only 3-7 in ACC play and 13th in the conference standings. With losses in eight of their last 10 games, it is clear this team is still a few years away from truly contending in the ACC, even with the conference having a bit of a down season.
However, Stoudamire managed to accomplish something only two coaches have done in the past 30 years: he led his team to wins over both Duke and North Carolina, having handed the Tar Heels their first conference loss on Tuesday evening in Atlanta.
Stoudamire joins Sidney Lowe and Kevin Keatts as the only first year ACC head coaches to accomplish this feat, and is now the only one who did not do it while coaching at NC State.
Lowe went on to have a mediocre five year stint with the Wolfpack, winning 86 games from 2006-2011 and failing to make an NCAA Tournament, while Keatts has gone dancing in just two of the past five seasons.
Stoudamire looks like he could have the best career out of the trio. The former NBA All-Star was the head coach at Pacific from 2016-2021, turning an 11 win program into a 23-10 team in 2019-20 before ultimately taking an assistant job in the NBA.
Now he’s in the ACC and already playing spoiler, not just on the court but as a high level recruiter which could help this Yellow Jackets program reach heights they haven’t seen in roughly 20 years.
Stoudamire will have a chance to celebrate this accomplishment with Keatts on Saturday when they head to Raleigh to take on the Wolfpack. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 PM ET on the CW Network.