[rps-paypal]
Damon Stoudamire gives great thanks to Lute Olson during his press conference #BearDown pic.twitter.com/yRfenTgRjj
— AZ Wildcat Country (@Wildcat_Country) March 16, 2016
[ezcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””]
FORMER ARIZONA ATHLETES
AS CURRENT HEAD COACHES
High school boy’s basketball
[table “” not found /]
Men’s college basketball
[table “” not found /]
Men’s professional basketball
[table “” not found /]
College baseball
[table “” not found /]
Professional baseball
[table “” not found /]
Women’s college basketball
[table “” not found /]
High school football
[table “” not found /]
College softball
[table “” not found /]
High school softball
[table “” not found /]
[/ezcol_1half]
[ezcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]
Damon Stoudamire, the new head coach @PacificMensBB, pens a letter to his 12-year-old self. https://t.co/QaTOHovPDj pic.twitter.com/JoTsW6wZ02
— The Players' Tribune (@PlayersTribune) March 16, 2016
On the day Damon Stoudamire was hired to his first head coaching job, filling the vacancy at Pacific, he penned a touching article about his life that was published by The Players Tribune.
The article, titled “Letter to My Younger Self”, is written by Stoudamire as a letter to a himself when he was an ambitious basketball player at 12 in the Portland, Ore., area. Stoudamire shed light on his experience with his grandparents, specifically his late grandmother, who he calls his best friend.
He opens up about important moments in his development as a basketball player and person. He devoted a significant part of his letter mentioning how Lute Olson impacted his life:
There’s a guy named Lute Olson who is going to come to your house when you’re in high school. He coaches the University of Arizona. In 2016, we have a term that perfectly describes Lute.
It’s called swag.
In terms you’ll understand, this dude is super bad, O.K.? He’s going to walk into your living room when you’re in high school with that slick white hair and that immaculate suit, and he’s going to tell you the truth.
He’s not going to be a used-car salesman. He’s not going to tell you that you’re a superstar.
He’s going to say, “You know what, Damon? I already got a point guard. And he’s terrific. But I think you can be terrific, too. I’m going to make you into a man.”
Stoudamire becomes Olson’s 10th former player at Arizona to become an active head coach. All but Craig McMillan, the head coach at Santa Rosa (Calif.) Junior College, and Matt Brase, coach of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League, were point guards, an extension of Olson on the court.
They range from the high school level with Mike Bibby at Phoenix Shadow Mountain and former walk-on Jason Stewart at Encinitas (Calif.) San Dieguito to the NBA with Steve Kerr at Golden State. Kelvin Eafon, who was recruited to Arizona by Olson but finished his career playing football for Dick Tomey, is the head basketball coach at Pueblo.
The others in the Olson player coaching tree are Reggie Geary (in his fifth year coaching in a Japanese professional league), Jason Gardner (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) and Josh Pastner (Memphis).
Stoudamire also becomes the 28th known former Arizona athlete who is a head coach.
Some of the more notable former Wildcats coaching their own team include Maryland women’s basketball coach Brenda Frese (whose team is 31-3 and seeded No. 2 in the NCAA tournament), Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale.
Eight former Arizona football players, including Eafon, are coaching at the high school level, including former NFL player and current ESPN analyst Antonio Pierce at powerhouse Long Beach Poly.
Mike Candrea’s softball coaching tree includes six former players, including two at the high school level in Tucson with Amy Baray-Rocha at Salpointe Catholic and Danielle Rodriguez at Tucson High.
MIGHTY MOUSE BACK. Damon Stoudamire is the new head coach at Pacific https://t.co/etZXbzdQrT pic.twitter.com/iWCiVwZz67
— SB Nation CBB (@SBNationCBB) March 16, 2016
"What a big time hire!" – @jordancornette on new @PacificMensBB coach Damon Stoudamire.
📺: https://t.co/31XxsBpGaY pic.twitter.com/vvNHevLzVY
— Campus Insiders (@CampusInsiders) March 17, 2016
[/ezcol_1half_end]
Arizona basketball: Point Guard U (for head coaches). Steve Kerr, Damon Stoudamire, Jason Gardner … someday, T.J. McConnell, right?
— Anthony Gimino (@AGWildcatReport) March 16, 2016
Coach Steve Kerr fine-tuning Warriors' game with eye on title repeat: https://t.co/HZq9f9qIgq (@sam_amick) pic.twitter.com/e0aQavJMh3
— USA TODAY Sports (@USATODAYsports) March 12, 2016
Ex-Arizona Wildcat Kelvin Eafon doing work as Pueblo wins playoff game (via @AndyMorales8): https://t.co/Gi0gFoyBg2 pic.twitter.com/YTLHrXvEis
— Anthony Gimino (@AGWildcatReport) February 17, 2016
@UA_Softball Former Wildcats Danielle Rodriguez, Amy Rocha & Jackie Coburn coaching in state playoffs http://t.co/pGkBaErzyb
— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) May 6, 2015
Congratulations to @BrendaFrese @umdwbb on another @B1Gwbball Championship! #TerpFamily 🐢❤️ pic.twitter.com/4wO8wj5OhX
— Tina Langley (@CoachLangley) March 7, 2016
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
Recommended for you
