Tag: Jerry Stackhouse

Former Tar Heel following Chris Mack to College of Charleston

Jeff McInnis was part of three successful UNC basketball teams in the late 20th century. After a 2-year coaching hiatus, he’s hopping into the college ranks.

Despite the NCAA Tournament being fresh in our minds, the transfer portal makes it feel like we’re already deep into the college basketball offseason.

The biggest name to enter the transfer portal so far is Arizona big man Oumar Ballo, who’s exploded to become a top center after transferring from Gonzaga. Other players, like Kentucky’s Aaron Bradshaw, are looking to find consistent starting roles elsewhere.

There’s also been a few notable coaching changes – Eric Musselman (Arkansas -> USC), John Calipari (Kentucky -> Arkansas) and Chris Mack (College of Charleston) – to name a few. Pat Kelsey, the former Charleston coach, is heading up to Louisville.

What you may not know, however, is there’s a UNC connection with one of these new coaches.

Mack, the former Louisville and longtime Xavier coach, recent hired former Tar Heels player Jeff McInnis as an assistant coach.

McInnis played his college ball at North Carolina from 1993-1996, helping UNC to the 1995 Final Four and a pair of Second Round appearances. McInnis played alongside the likes of Tar Heel legends Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace, then enjoyed an 11-year NBA career that ended with him in a Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) uniform.

While Charleston will be McInnis’ first stop at the college level, he is credited with founding AAU program Team Charlotte (NC). He then spent 2019-2022 at Combine Academy in Lincolnton, NC.

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Vanderbilt basketball lands coach who vanquished Wisconsin in NCAA Tournament

James Madison head coach gets new job:

Vanderbilt University’s men’s basketball program is hiring former James Madison University head coach Mark Byington as its next head coach.

The news broke Monday, two days removed from the Dukes’ 72-61 victory over Wisconsin in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

Byington led James Madison to a record-setting 32 wins and the program’s first bid to March Madness in over 40 years. JMU kick-started its 2023-2024 campaign with 14 consecutive triumphs and punched its ticket to the tournament with a win over Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title game.

On March 23, the 12-seeded Dukes held a lead against No. 5 Wisconsin for the entire contest en route to an 11-tally win. Byington’s group would drop its next game to Duke in the Round of 32, but his postseason run certainly garnered the attention of the Commodores’ decision makers. 

Byington is slated to replace Jerry Stackhouse, a former NBA All-Star. Stackhouse manned Vanderbilt’s sidelines for five seasons and led the Commodores to 22 wins in 2022-2023 without an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Vanderbilt forward Lee Dort to reportedly enter transfer portal

Vanderbilt forward Lee Dort is reportedly set to enter the NCAA transfer portal following Jerry Stackhouse’s departure.

According to multiple reports, Vanderbilt forward Lee Dort is set to enter the transfer portal after two seasons with the Commodores.

Dort, a sophomore forward, appeared in only one game off the Commodores bench this season, as well as 18 total across his two seasons with Vanderbilt. Across the last two years, Dort has averaged a combined 1.7 PPG and 2.1 RPG in limited action, with each of his 18 games played coming off the bench.

Formerly the headline prospect from Vanderbilt’s 2022 recruiting class, Dort is a former four-star prospect out of Greenhill School in Texas, ranked as the No. 105 overall player for that cycle.

This news comes a day after the Commodores reportedly parted ways with head coach Jerry Stackhouse after five seasons at the helm of the Vanderbilt program. Dort is the first Vanderbilt player to announce his intention to enter the transfer portal following the news of Stackhouse’s departure – although more are expected to do so in the coming days.

Is former UNC standout on coaching hot seat this season?

Is former UNC basketball standout Jerry Stackhouse on the hot seat in his fifth year at Vanderbilt?

Former North Carolina standout Jerry Stackhouse is still attempting to turn the Vanderbilt program around. Vanderbilt hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament under Stackhouse and their last appearance was back in 2017.

That streak will continue this year with a 7-18 record overall and a 2-10 record in SEC play here in late February. With another season of struggles, Stackhouse finds himself on the hot seat at least according to one analyst.

Rob Cassidy of Rivals listed five coaches who could be on the hot seat and right at the top he included Stackhouse, predicting that he would ‘probably not’ be back:

Year five of the Stackhouse experience in Nashville has been significantly worse than the first four, none of which ended with an NCAA tournament appearance. It’s becoming nearly impossible to see a way forward for the current regime.

A 35-point loss to in-state rival Tennessee over the weekend was probably the nail in Stackhouse’s Vandy coffin, but a seven-game losing streak earlier in the season did the most damage to his future. The fact that Stackhouse is just 26-56 in SEC games over the past three years is a tough pill to swallow, even at Vanderbilt.

If this season stays on its current trajectory, Stackhouse seems destined to win fewer than five conference games for the third time in his five-year tenure in Nashville. Any good will he built with a 22-win season a year ago has evaporated, so it seems as though the Commodores will be in the market for a new head coach sooner rather than later.

Stackhouse has had his struggles in five years as the head coach but winning at Vanderbilt is no easy task. It’s tough to recruit and you’re in a really good conference that allows you to pick up some signature wins but those have been a rarity for him.

There’s still a few weeks left in the season but it feels like he will need a miracle to survive.

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Jerry Stackhouse inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

Tar Heel great Jerry Stackhouse was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Tar Heel legend [autotag]Jerry Stackhouse[/autotag] has added another accolade to his impressive career, this time being inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame.

It was announced in January that Stackhouse would be a part of the 2023 North Carolina Hall of Fame due to his deep ties to the state. And on Friday night, that became a reality for Stackhouse.

Before winning all ACC tournament MVP at UNC, he was putting his talents on full display at Kinston High School, becoming a player to watch.

Stackhouse joined Tom Fazio, Bob “Stonewall” Jackson, Jason Brown, Tom Higgins, Ellen Griffin, Donald Evans, Clarkston Hines, Curtis Strange, Jeff Davis, and Trudi Lacey. When asked about the honor, Stackhouse explained his belief that the day would come to WITN.

“I always was confident, even as a young boy, not that that was my goal at that time, but I just knew I wanted to be the best of my peers as long as I played the game. Fortunately, God blessed me to be in that category,”

Stackhouse was a star at UNC, averaging 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.2 blocks in his final year. Then, after a remarkable 17-years in the NBA as a player, Stackhouse traded in the Js for a clipboard, becoming the voice for Vanderbilt’s locker room.

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Ime Udoka and the 9 other most likely candidates the Raptors may consider to replace Nick Nurse

Two other names to watch: former NBA players Jerry Stackhouse and Adrian Griffin Sr.

The Toronto Raptors surprised fans when they decided to fire head coach Nick Nurse on Friday morning.

Nurse, who led the Raptors to win the NBA championship in 2019, is now widely considered the favorite to become head coach of the Rockets. The Raptors, meanwhile, have a big decision to make when it comes to finding a replacement for the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year.

Whoever takes over for Nurse will inherit a roster with two-time All-Star Pascal Siakam, one-time All-Star Fred VanVleet, Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes, and OG Anunoby (who was one of the most coveted players at the trade deadline).

Toronto’s coaching decision will reflect whether the franchise plans to rebuild (VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. both have player options and can become free agents this offseason) or just slightly retool for another championship pursuit.

Here is more from Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri (via ESPN):

“This is an opportunity for us to reset, to refocus, to put into place the personnel and the players who will help us reach our goal of winning our next championship.”

Ime Udoka is expected to be a “serious candidate” for the opening in Toronto, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Here is who else the organization may have in mind.

Jerry Stackhouse called reports about taking the Pistons’ head coach job ‘beguilement in the highest form’

There’s no better way to confirm you want to stay at Vanderbilt than talking like a 19th-century robber baron.

Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Jerry Stackhouse has momentum. After a brutal start to his 2022-23 campaign, his team finished the year on an absolute heater. Vandy ended the pre-NIT season with a 10-2 run that included wins over Tennessee, Mississippi State and Kentucky (twice).

That wasn’t enough to propel the Dores to the NCAA Tournament, but it did boost Stackhouse’s stock in the coaching world. After pushing an undermanned team to new heights and showcasing a knack for play design and clutch moments, he’s once again emerged as a coaching candidate at the highest levels of the sport.

That includes his former NBA home, the Detroit Pistons. Earlier this week, reports began to spread that Stackhouse could leave Tennessee for Michigan and jump to the pros. On Thursday, he took to Twitter to shut those rumors down.

It wasn’t enough to just throw the clown emoji at them; Stack went full Cornelius Vanderbilt and hit them with “beguilement in the highest form.” That is prime robber baron stuff. That is a clause that begins a threat that ends with your land being taken and your oil derricks seized. 247Sports is one poorly sourced report away from having the full wrath of the Pinkertons brought down upon them.

The response also gave Stackhouse the chance to throw a little shade at the vocal contingent of Vanderbilt that had been calling for his job before 2023’s furious finish. The two-time NBA All-Star is active on Twitter and had gained a reputation among Commodore faithful for being quick to block users for lobbing even justified criticism at the team. He’s lately unblocked several of those accounts, so it’s unclear just who falls into that 5.8 percent — though you can probably take a guess looking at the coach’s replies under any given Tweet.

If Stackhouse were considering a jump to the NBA, 2023 is a strong opportunity. Detroit’s job vacancy would give him the chance to return to a franchise where he played five seasons and had the most productive stretch of his pro career. His current roster at Vandy is suffering from plenty of turnover after its NIT quarterfinal run. All-SEC center Liam Robbins has exhausted his eligibility, point guard Tyrin Lawrence has entered the NBA Draft (though he’s kept his NCAA eligibility intact and may return) and six players, including four who played at least 18 minutes per game in 2023-23, have entered the transfer portal.

But Stackhouse appears locked in for a fifth year at the helm. Vanderbilt has improved its record every season since his 2019 debut. Doing so again in 2023-24 would be the biggest achievement of his coaching career to date and likely cement the program’s first NCAA Tournament invitation since 2017. That’s what he’s focused on at the moment; anything else is just “beguilement.”

 

Jerry Stackhouse being connected to NBA job

Former UNC basketball standout and current Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse is being connected to the Detroit Pistons job.

With the college basektabll season complete and the NBA heading into the playoffs, the rumors are starting to fly for open coaching jobs around the country.

For the Detroit Pistons, they are looking to replace Dwane Casey who is moving to a front office role with the franchise. They could be looking at former North Carolina standout and current Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse.

According to Eric Bossi of 247Sports, Stackhouse’s name continues to pop up in coaching rumors. The latest is the Pistons as they look for the perfect match for their young, talented roster for the future.

Current Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouseis a name that keeps coming up as a possible replacement for the Detroit Pistons job, with Dwane Casey moving from the sideline to the front office in Detroit. There appears to be some legitimate smoke to the fire.

Stackhouse is very well regarded in NBA circles and numerous sources tell 247Sports that he’s indeed very interested in the Pistons opening.

Stackhouse has worked his way up the ranks, serving as an assistant before becoming a head coach in the G League. From there, he took the Vanderbilt job and despite struggles early this season, he turned things around and had them on the NCAA Tournament bubble.

It seems Stackhouse eventually wants to move up to an NBA head coaching job and getting to Detroit, a place he played during his NBA career could be the best option for that.

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Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt make jump in bracketology

Will Vanderbilt find itself in the NCAA Tournament? Jerry Stackhouse’s team is making a big move.

Former UNC basketball standout and current Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse is making some noise here in early March.

Vanderbilt finds themselves in the SEC Tournament semifinals after beating LSU on Thursday and then pulling off another upset by taking down Kentucky on Friday night. And with that latest win, Stackhouse has his team potentially on the verge of an NCAA Tournament bid.

That was something that wasn’t in the cards a month ago.

After losing to Alabama 101-41 on January 31st, Vanderbilt has gone 10-1 including two upset wins over Kentucky. Now, going into Saturday’s game against Texas A&M, the Commodores have moved up in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology.

Vanderbilt is among the first four out now, leapfrogging UNC, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Michigan since the start of the SEC Tournament. They do find themselves as team No. 72 on the projection, behind Oklahoma State, Nevada, and Clemson.

A win on Saturday could vault them right to team No. 69 before they have the chance to clinch an automatic bid.

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Former UNC star and current Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse wins co-SEC Coach of the Year

Former UNC basketball star and current Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse was named co-SEC Coach of the Year.

Former UNC basketball star and current Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse received a big honor on Monday.

Stackhouse was named the co-SEC Coach of the Year, receiving the award alongside Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams.

Vanderbilt had one of the hottest ends of the season across the SEC and the country. The Commodores won eight of their last nine games, including wins over No. 6 Tennessee and No. 23 Kentucky.

With its late-season run, Vanderbilt finished 18-13 overall and 11-7 in SEC play, ending the season tied for fourth in the conference.

The Commodores are the No. 6 seed in the SEC Tournament and will play the No. 11 Georgia/No. 14 LSU winner in the second round. After that, a potential matchup with No. 3 Kentucky looms.

This was a significant moment in Stackhouse’s coaching career. After two straight losing seasons in which his team went 20-37, he has gone 19-17 and 18-13 in back-to-back seasons.

This season was also the first time Vanderbilt had more than 10 wins in conference play since 2015-16.

Despite the lack of success in the previous few seasons, Stackhouse signed a contract extension heading into this year.

“The positive trajectory of our men’s basketball program under coach Stackhouse is clear,” Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Lee said in October. “Committing to and investing in him as the leader is an important part of building the championship caliber program that we all want and expect here at Vanderbilt. I value the contributions Jerry and his program have made to our community and campus, and I am excited about our future.”

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