Jerry Stackhouse emerges as candidate for 1 NBA head coaching job

Feb 8, 2020; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Jerry Stackhouse watches play during the first half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Just one month after being fired by Vanderbilt, Jerry Stackhouse may be falling upwards.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported this week that Stackhouse has emerged as a candidate for the Charlotte Hornets head coaching position. Wojnarowski notes that Stackhouse, 49, is part of a preliminary round of interviews by the Hornets, who are looking for a successor to former coach Steve Clifford.

Stackhouse spent the last five seasons in charge of Vanderbilt but got fired in March after going 70-92 (.432) overall with zero NCAA Tournament appearances. While Stackhouse did not show much at the college level, he had a far stronger track record in the pros. Before taking the Vanderbilt job, Stackhouse was an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies. He also served as the head coach of Raptors 905 in the then-NBA D-League, leading them to the D-League title in 2017 and also winning D-League Coach of the Year that season.

The Hornets are casting a very wide net in their head coaching search and have even been linked to a potential groundbreaking candidate. Stackhouse ultimately seems like a longshot for the job but has at least done well for himself to get into the conversation in the first place.