Georgia Tech fires Damon Stoudamire after 3 seasons

Georgia Tech has fired men’s basketball coach Damon Stoudamire after three seasons leading the Yellow Jackets, according to multiple reports.

Stoudamire went 42-55 in Atlanta, never finishing with a winning record in ACC play. This season was the worst of his tenure, as Georgia Tech finished last in the 18-team league, failed to qualify for the conference tournament and lost its final 12 games.

Per Stoudamire’s contract, which ran through the 2027-28 season, Georgia Tech will owe the 52-year-old just under $3 million.

Stoudamire was an outside-the-box hire for the Yellow Jackets, given his limited previous college success. The former Arizona standout and NBA Rookie of the Year — nicknamed “Mighty Mouse” for his 5-foot-10 stature — went 71-77 in five seasons at Pacific from 2016 to 2021, before leaving to become an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. After one season at the NBA level, Georgia Tech tapped Stoudamire to revive a program that has been to just one NCAA Tournament since 2010.

Stoudamire did land significant talent as a recruiter, but he was never able to put it all together for the Yellow Jackets. His most encouraging season was arguably his first, when Tech — despite a 14-18 final record — beat Duke, North Carolina and Clemson on the strength of a dynamic freshman class led by forward Baye Ndongo and point guard Naithan George.

But Stoudamire never markedly improved beyond that debut campaign. Georgia Tech did finish .500 last year, going 17-17 and 10-10 in the ACC, but leading scorer Lance Terry graduated and George transferred to Syracuse. The wheels fell off entirely this season as the Yellow Jackets went 2-19 against power-conference opponents.

Stoudamire was also no longer working for the athletic director who hired him, as J Batt left for Michigan State last summer.

Now it’s on Tech’s first-year athletic director, Ryan Alpert, who came from Tennessee, to chart a new path forward for a program that hasn’t made the Final Four since 2004. Who might Alpert consider for the open coaching position?

Five candidates for Georgia Tech

Chris Carrawell, associate head coach, Duke: Carrawell was a finalist at Florida State last spring, and it’s only a matter of time before the longtime Duke assistant gets his shot to lead a high-major program. The 48-year-old has been an excellent recruiter dating back to his time on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff, and he is one of the most trusted members on Jon Scheyer’s staff. The former All-American and 2000 ACC Player of the Year knows the conference well, which would make a potential transition easier. Miami head coach Jai Lucas was the only high-major assistant to earn a high-major job last cycle, but his immediate success with the Hurricanes (and because he, too, came from Duke) should make that a more viable path for coaches like Carrawell.

Justin Gainey, associate head coach, Tennessee: Like Carrawell, Gainey was in the mix for an ACC job last season — NC State, his alma mater — and is one of the most-respected assistants in college basketball. If Rick Barnes retires in Knoxville, Gainey could be his replacement, but if not, it wouldn’t be surprising for other ACC programs to look his way. The Tennessee connection with Alpert won’t hurt the 48-year-old’s case, nor will Gainey’s regional experience. But is he better off waiting to see what Barnes does?

Kevin Keatts, commentator, ESPN: After a year off from coaching, Keatts — who led NC State to the Final Four in 2024 — wants back in, and another ACC school could do a lot worse than someone with Keatts’ experience and resume. While his final season in Raleigh went poorly, Keatts won at least 20 games in five of his eight seasons with the Wolfpack, making the NCAA Tournament on three separate occasions. Keatts is a solid recruiter whose energy would be appreciated at Georgia Tech, and he understands how to do more with fewer resources in the modern era. Georgia Tech also wouldn’t have to buy out Keatts’ current contract because he’s not coaching this season.

Chris Mack, head coach, Charleston: The former Xavier and Louisville coach can be choosy about his next high-major gig, given his stability and quality of life at Charleston. He’d be an immediate stabilizer for the Yellow Jackets, after going 45-19 over the last two seasons. Mack didn’t win a tournament game in four seasons at Louisville, but some of that was circumstance — his best team was in 2019-20, when the NCAA Tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 — and he seems destined to get back to the high-majors, possibly at a higher level than Georgia Tech.

Takayo Siddle, head coach, UNC Wilmington: Industry chatter has connected Siddle to Georgia Tech for a few weeks now, and it’s easy to understand why. The 39-year-old has been one of the better mid-major coaches for several seasons, going 132-52 in six seasons with the Seahawks. That includes an NCAA Tournament berth last season, and potentially another this month, considering UNC Wilmington won the CAA regular-season title and is the top seed in the conference tournament. Siddle reportedly just signed a new deal in Wilmington, but there’s little left for him to prove there, and Georgia Tech makes sense as the next step.