Episode Details

Well-known throughout the basketball world for his success as a player and coach at the collegiate and professional levels, Damon Stoudamire became the 15th head coach in Georgia Tech men’s basketball history on March 14, 2023.In his first year on The Flats, Stoudamire and his staff brought in nine new players, including four freshmen, and guided the Yellow Jackets to 14 wins, including three over top-25 teams Mississippi State, Duke and North Carolina. The Jackets beat five teams that reached the post-season, including NCAA Sweet 16 teams Clemson, Duke and North Carolina.He guided the Yellow Jackets back to the post-season for the first time in four years in 2024-25 at Tech went 7-3 in its final 10 regular-season games, finished eighth in the ACC and earned the team’s first ACC Tournament opening-round bye since the 2021 ACC title. The Jackets beat three Quad 1 teams and won their first ACC Tournament game since 2021, and received a bid to the NIT. Stoudamire was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, an honor he won in 2020 while at Pacific.He and the staff have re-shaped the Tech roster by attracting recruiting classes that have been ranked No. 20 (2024) and No. 13 (2025) nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings.Stoudamire came to Georgia Tech after most recently serving as an assistant coach of the Boston Celtics, who currently sit atop the NBA’s Atlantic Division standings. He was with the Celtics for nearly two seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23), after a successful five-season stint as the head coach at Pacific (2016-21). At Pacific, he was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading the Tigers to a 23-10 record in 2019-20, good for the program’s best winning percentage (.697) in 15 years, and a third-place finish in the powerful WCC (behind only national powers Gonzaga and St. Mary’s). He also was honored with the Ben Jobe Award, given annually to the nation’s top minority head coach.