Memphis Grizzlies assistant Jerry Stackhouse is reportedly in contract negotiations to become Vanderbilt’s next head coach.
The Commodores fired former coach Bryce Drew after a winless SEC season, and it appears that athletic director Malcolm Turner is returning to his roots for the team’s replacement.
Turner, who took the Vanderbilt job after serving as the NBA G-League president, is also a North Carolina alum like Stackhouse.
And Turner is already in negotiations with Stackhouse to become the Commodores new coach, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein.
Sources: Memphis Grizzlies assistant Jerry Stackhouse is in contract negotiations to become the next head coach at Vanderbilt. Emerged as a primary candidate in the last 24 hours. Nothing final yet, but the two sides are headed towards a marriage.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 1, 2019
The former NBA star has been with the Grizzlies this season, but he spent several seasons as the coach of Raptors 905 in the G-League, where the team captured the league’s title in 2017.
He also served as an assistant for the Toronto Raptors during the 2015-16 season.
Stackhouse is widely considered to be excellent at player development and will undoubtedly be able to attract plenty of top recruits due to his NBA background.
However, he does not have any college coaching experience, and that may be a concern for some Vanderbilt fans in the early going since there is always risk involved when hiring that type of candidate.
That will make putting together an experienced staff a top priority, especially in what has become one of the most competitive basketball conferences in the country.
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