Everything From Damon Stoudamire's Introductory Press Conference
A new era of Georgia Tech Basketball officially got underway today.
New Yellow Jackets head coach Damon Stoudamire was introduced today and the former Boston Celtics assistant is going to be challenged with leading the program back to winning, something that former head coach Josh Pastner could not do consistently enough, among other things.
Damon Stoudamire is the new head coach at Georgia Tech
Stoudamire discussed a variety of topics today as he was introduced and here is everything the new head coach had to say today.
Opening Statement:
"It's been a long time coming. I have a lot of people that I want to thank first. First, want to acknowledge my sons in the back. This has just been a long journey for me. You know, I am excited beyond belief to be here today. I see a lot of faces in the crowd, some I know, some I don't and I look forward to hopefully dialogue with everyone. When I always thought of Georgia Tech basketball when I was a kid, I remember Coach (Bobby) Cremins, Mark Price, I remember Bruce Dalrymple, I remember Tommy Duane Ferrell, I remember Tommy Hammond. I have seen the evolution of it from Dennis Scott to Kenny Anderson to Brian Oliver, Malcolm Mackey.
This is a tradition-rich program, one that I aspire to get back to winning championships, galvanize the community, the student body and just get this thing going in the right direction. Things come together quickly sometimes and the shared vision that we have, I don't think there's nothing that we can't do. For me again, you know last night, coaching that last game with my guys, you know, all I could think about moving forward to be honest with you is how important today would be for me, my family and the Georgia Tech community.
From this day forward, its all about us, and its all about winning and I want people around that are going to help me do that. Some things are not acceptable. It gets cliche to say we are not gonna lose. To get the culture, to get the foundation to get discipline, you have to have a non-negotiable contract with yourself and that's what you have to do. You have to expect nothing but perfection and then if that does not happen, then it damn sure better be close. Those are the things that I try to teach my kids, those are the things that I have taught every kid I have coached. The ironic thing about being in Atlanta is that throughout the years in Atlanta as you guys know, playing in the NBA, we all started to come down here and I have met a whole lot of people.
Nostalgic for me is that I remember is that I got my first college coaching job, the first recruit I ever got in my life was a McDonald's All-American from right here in DeKalb High School. First ever player I got in my life. First player. And to have this come full circle, to be able to be in a great city, have a great fanbase and I could not ask for more and I so look forward to getting this program to where everyone wants to see it at"
1. On what he needed to hear to make him take this job...
"You know, it is a commitment and it is a shared vision in order to get a program going in a right direction. In our meetings, I felt like a I got that. One of the things when I had my prior job at Pacific and you are building from the ground up and you don't really have a budget and you are just trying to do the best you can. When you have an opportunity like this for me, totally different so the shared vision, the collective vision of what we see moving forward, I heard all of that in our conversations and that made me more than comfortable moving forward."
2. On the timetable to hire assistant coaches...
"No timetable. The phone has been ringing a lot over the past 24 hours. In trying to digest a lot of things, there are a lot of good candidates, and there a lot of good names and it is just a matter of finding what fits me and where I see in terms of what I need within the program."
3. On what gives him the confidence he will be able to recruit in the state of Georgia and in Atlanta...
"The first question, the player is Shaq Goodwin, Southwest DeKalb High School. Ironically enough, we share the same birthday so that is probably why we have so much in common. Secondly, you know, No.1, this is a relationship business and I have great relationships and I am dialed in and in tune to what it takes to be successful at this. So obviously, you know you have this Atlanta Metropolitan area, but you also have the rest of the country and me and the staff that I put together are going to beat the pavement to do the best we can to find the best student-athletes for here but we have a major major hub here in Atlanta and I don't think it has been tapped into the way it could be tapped into."
4. On NIL...
"Things have definitely changed. When I was on my way out at Pacific, the NIL was starting to come into play, but you could see this happening years ago. You could see it happening, it was just a matter of time so it is nothing new. It is kinda like a taboo in collegiate sports but from the world I come from, it is almost like playing with the salary cap. Just being honest with you.
5. On what he learned from when Boston switched coaches earlier this season and if he is looking to restore Georgia Tech having great point guard play...
"Well you know the situation in Boston was unfortunate, we all had to pull together, I think it was difficult for everybody, there was a lot of healing going on with everyone in our organization but we had a common goal and that was to win and no different than here at Tech. You have transitions and what you hope for is that in that transition, you have to move forward. You have a choice and you have to make the choice that is best for you. The choice that we made in Boston and that I led the charge in, the person that was no longer there anymore, he would still want us to do the right thing and the right thing is we gott a come, we have to stay committed, we have to stay committed to each other while we get through the healing process and we will be fine. That is what happened there and that is what could happen here. Talking with the team yesterday, I felt good about that and I look forward to talking to each player individually.
In terms of restoring the point guard, point guard thing. This is what I have figured out in recruiting. I am going to find the right player, I am not going to recreate Kenny Anderson, Mark Price, the legends that played here. But, I do fell guards win championships. I know that, I know that really well. Good guards win you a lot of games."
6. On what stood out about Georgia Tech that made him want to leave a championship contender like the Celtics...
"You know... that's a good question. What I would say is and I say that because I had a couple of people text me the same thing but I would say that more than me leaving, I think it shows what these two gentleman brought to the table when we talked and what they shared as a vision of where the program can go. I just thought it was a no-brainer. I thought now was the time and we can get things going back in the right direction. You see the conference changing a little bit and that is exciting. The commitments they made and I just felt like it was perfect.
When Boston wins a championship, I will still get my ring, we already talked about that, I get my ring. Right now, everybody understands why I left, but even with that said, talking with Joe (Massulla) and Brad (Stevens), I would have liked to stay, but that would have been not given Georgia Tech the credit and attention it deserved. If I am going to do this, I am going to do this 100%. So, I am committed and in this for the long haul and I feel like Georgia Tech has a chance like I said to get back and win championships and that is all I really want to do is to inspire children."
7. On his relationship with Kyle Sturdivant...
"Me and Kyle... before Kyle was born, me and his father were really good friends and you know whats crazy is that there is so many backstories to be honest with you of people I know in Atlanta, not knowing this day would come when I would be sitting in front of you guys and talking about being the head coach here at Tech. But I knew Kyle's dad for the longest and I held him as a baby and known him for years and I have always been proud of him.
You know the thing about it is... I'll say this... I know this year he had some bumps in the road, you know he would call me and he don't know this but sometimes when he called, I would not answer on purpose... I did. Because sometimes you gotta be a man and figure it out because after a while, you gotta look in the mirror and know who is really the culprit.
I have always said this... and I believe this and I tell my kids this and I tell Kyle this and I tell my closest people who ask me questions... I don't know a coach in the world who is not going to play a guy who is going to help them win a game. Ok, now there is things we have to do. We have to exude confidence and do different things and I understand that but there is not a coach in the world, I don't care what level you play on, that is not going to put the manager in if he can help you win, so that is what I tried to get Kyle to understand that I would pick the phone up when he played better and I am like whats the difference. That is all I would ask, I never asked questions because No.1, I know how hard coaching is, but I also know how student-athletes can get in their own head about certain things.
Kyle is a great young man and a great student, he's a great ambassador of this university and I look forward to coaching him."
8. On his recruiting connections in Georgia and Atlanta...
"In general, I know a lot of people, even when I left the college game to go back to the professional ranks you know I still talked to a lot of people, but it won't take a lot of time to get reacquainted. I just feel like when Tech is good, Tech has Atlanta guys on there, but they also have guys from around the country. My belief is that this institute is that its academics is second to none and a lot of people want to be apart of this. You start at home and then you venture out. It won't take long. Again, this is a relationship business and you gotta beat relationships down and at times you gotta make people talk to you, its a part of it and I look forward to that. I look forward to recreating what this was so I don't think it will take time."
9. On his plan for the transfer portal and recruiting...
"When I say time, I don't mean time to win, I want to win right now but you gotta cipher through these players. There are a lot of guys in the transfer portal but you gotta understand there are a lot of guys in the transfer portal for a reason so you gotta do your homework. Again, I think I am a bit different. Change for me is not unknown, it is the known. With a professional background, you can overhaul every year, but I am not worried about the roster or overhauling every year, I am worried about the people I bring in every year because if you bring the wrong guys and then things can go the wrong way so my time is invested in changing the roster only if it is the right student-athlete that is trying to do what we are trying to do and that's how I have always been and that is how I have always approached the transfer portal and its been good to me in the past and I expect it to be good to me now."
10. On his relationship with Josh Pastner and the foundation of players left behind...
"First, yeah I did. Me and Josh did have a conversation. I respect him... I respect him more than anyone knows, I have known him for a very very long time and I respect everything he stands for and everything he is about. In terms of our conversation, we just had good dialogue.
With the roster, I like the roster. I think that the guys have an opportunity here and each one of them has to take advantage of it. That is the biggest thing. There are things that we have to improve upon collectively, not just one individual but they have to take advantage of this opportunity and I talked to them today and told them I look forward to hearing their thoughts on everything."
11. On what he has in mind for the offense...
"I am looking for an exciting brand of ball. Analytically driven but at the same time a lot of spacing. Let me put it to you this way, the first six seconds are theirs, the middle ten seconds is mine and the final six seconds we need to figure out who is the best option with the ball in their hands so to speak. You know I really admire what we did in Boston. Obviously, I don't have Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown to do it, but the way we play man, the unselfishness, the ball movement and conceptually the things that we did each and every day in practice to make us a good team because those are the teaching moments that make us who we are at 7:30 and I think that that is how I want to define Georgia Tech Basketball and spacing will be important, shooting will be important and ball movement will be very important so I look forward to doing those types of things."
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