Georgia Tech fired coach Damon Stoudamire, the school announced Sunday, one day after the Yellow Jackets’ season ended with a 79-76 loss at Clemson. The news was widely expected within the industry, as Tech finished the season with 12 consecutive defeats.
Stoudamire lasted just three seasons in Atlanta and didn’t have a top-100 KenPom team in any of them. This year’s group finished 11-20 and was rated as the worst of the three since he got the job. The 52-year-old Stoudamire was a surprise hire in 2023 by then-athletic director J Batt, winning the gig after a two-year stint as a Boston Celtics assistant. Prior to that, Stoudamire coached Pacific for five seasons. The former top-10 NBA pick out of Arizona has a career record as a head coach of 113-132 (.461).
“On behalf of Georgia Tech, I want to thank Damon for his commitment to the Institute, our men’s basketball program and, most importantly, our student-athletes,” Georgia Tech athletic director Ryan Alpert said in a statement. “He is highly respected and admired throughout the Georgia Tech community and has been a strong representative of the Institute. We wish him the very best. … Georgia Tech’s commitment to men’s basketball is unwavering, and we will invest the resources necessary to compete for championships at the highest levels.”
Greg Gary, a member of the Georgia Tech staff since 2024, will serve as interim coach.
Alpert had been exploring a change since mid-season, per sources, as the ACC-based program has been mired in mediocrity for the better part of the past two decades. Tech hasn’t made the Sweet 16 since 2004, which was also the season it reached the national title game under Paul Hewitt. Since then, the Yellow Jackets have gone to just four NCAA tourneys and had only two seasons wherein they finished at least two games above .500 in conference play.
The job is considered to be in the lower tier of the ACC, though its location is a selling point. NIL funding remains an open question, and candidates for the job will need a hard sell on what’s feasible there. This is a school with a wide variety of potential candidates.
Among the names that should get some initial looks for the gig: Belmont’s Casey Alexander, UNCW’s Takayo Siddle, Charleston’s Chris Mack, Duke assistant Chris Carrawell, Florida assistant Carlin Hartman, alum/Los Angeles Clippers assistant Shaun Fein and Troy’s Scott Cross, who has ties to Alpert/his staff.
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