Damon Stoudamire leaves Pacific for the Boston Celtics

After spending fives seasons at Pacific as the head coach, former Wildcat Damon Stoudamire is going to the Boston Celtics as an Assistant Coach.

Once considered to be a candidate as the next head coach with Arizona Basketball, it appears former Wildcat Damon Stoudamire is on the move after all as Damon will become an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics.

Over a week ago, it was announced that longtime NBA player and assistant coach Ime Udoka was going to be the next head coach of the Boston Celtics, and it didn’t take long for him to find a suitable assistant for him.

Arizona Wildcats

Having been rumored to be a candidate for the next open spot, on Wednesday afternoon it was finally announced that Damon is in fact going to become an assistant coach with the Celtics.

After spending five seasons at Pacific, the Damon Stoudamire era is over for the former Wildcat, appearing to add more to his coaching resume.

Just 47, Damon has had a rather illustrious coaching career, spending five seasons with the Pacific Tigers. He took over a program that went 8-20 in 2015-16 and was facing NCAA sanctions.

Since 2016-17, the program has gone a combined 71-77 with his best season coming in 2019-20 when the team finished 23-10 and finished tied for third in the talented West Coast Conference.

Prior to his stint with Pacific, Damon was also an assistant coach for Memphis and Arizona from 2011-16, and even saw a brief, two-year stint with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2009-11.

As a player, he was well-respected earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1995-96 with the Toronto Raptors, and since then he has become a well-liked and respected coach, once again returning to the NBA.

He will work under first-year head coach Udoka, who took over for Brad Stevens who has since moved into a front-office role with the Celtics.