Belmont assistant James Strong has been hired as the director of player personnel at Vanderbilt.
Strong, who played for the Commodores from 1997 to 2000, has worked under Rick Byrd at Belmont for the past eight seasons.
Prior to joining the Bruins, he spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Furman.
Former Commodore star James Strong returns to West End to join @jerrystackhouse staff as Director of Player Personnel.
Welcome back Coach!#AnchorDown https://t.co/C6nBQu3AoK pic.twitter.com/g3XAlBzbtD
— Vanderbilt Men's Basketball (@VandyMBB) April 22, 2019
Strong becomes the third official hire on Jerry Stackhouse’s staff, and it’s one that has come together rather nicely given the variety of experience on the coaching roster.
Former UCLA and Cal assistant David Grace is the team’s new associate head coach, while former Memphis Grizzlies assistant Adam Mazarei has also joined the mix.
Stackhouse and company will try to help Vanderbilt turn things around after going winless in SEC play.
The Commodores are set to return key contributors in Saben Lee and Aaron Nesmith, and could also welcome back Simi Shittu should he choose to withdraw from the NBA draft process.
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