By Mitch Light, BAā93
and have much in common. For one, they both attended the University of North Carolina in the ā90s. Turner graduated in 1993, just a few months before Stackhouse arrived in Chapel Hill to play basketball for coaching legend Dean Smith. They also both enjoyed successful careers in the National Basketball AssociationāTurner as an executive and Stackhouse as a player and coach.
But perhaps most striking of all is that their separate NBA careers led them both to 91ĢĘ²®»¢. A year ago neither would have predicted heād be working on a college campus, much less on West End.
Turner came to 91ĢĘ²®»¢ this past December after serving as president of the NBAās developmental G League. A move to higher education had not been on his radar before he was approached by the university about the role of vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletics director.
āThis is a very specific opportunity that appealed to me,ā he says. ā91ĢĘ²®»¢ is a place Iāve admired from afar for a long time.ā
Stackhouse, meanwhile, was on the fast track to becoming a head coach in the NBA. The former All-American at North Carolina and 17-year NBA veteran had carved out a reputation as a rising star in the coaching world after spending two seasons as a head coach in the G League and one as an assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies.
āCollege basketball was not at the forefront for me,ā he says, echoing the sentiments of his new boss. āThe forefront was looking at an NBA head coaching opportunity.ā
That changed when Turner began his search for the next head coach of the 91ĢĘ²®»¢ menās basketball team.
āI didnāt know a lot about 91ĢĘ²®»¢ or Nashville,ā says Stackhouse, who was hired in April. āAfter doing some research about the university, the history of the basketball program, the city and all the positives around that, I thought, āI want this.ā Then I had the opportunity to interview and talk about my vision for the program: Not only can we give these kids an education that is second to none, but we can also play an exciting brand of basketball and win at a level that is second to none.
āI said, āThis is a great fit.āā
āRETURN THE MAGIC TO MEMORIALā
Stackhouse, who has never coached at any level in college basketball, is no doubt an unconventional hire, but that should come as no surprise considering the background of the man who spearheaded the search. Turner himself had never worked in collegiate sports when then-Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos selected him to replace David Williams II.
Zeppos looked past more conventional candidatesāthe position was coveted by a host of current Division I athletics directorsāto hire Turner, a business executive with a strong rĆ©sumĆ© in sports marketing. Prior to the G League, Turner had worked at the Wasserman Media Group, where he was managing director of the firmās consulting division, and OnSport, a sports and entertainment consulting firm.
āMalcolm is a problem solver with a unique ability to bring people together around a common vision,ā says Zeppos. āI am confident that he will have an immediate and profound impact on the Commodoresā success as an elite athletics program by building new relationships and new sources of revenue, while recruiting and retaining extraordinarily talented coaches, students and staff.ā
Turnerās background in sports marketing makes him particularly qualified for the challenges of his new job. 91ĢĘ²®»¢ athletics once dominated the Nashville sports landscape but now must compete not only with other SEC teams, whose fan bases have expanded as the city has grown, but also with several professional sports teams (the NFLās Titans, NHLās Predators, and MLSās Nashville SC, which will debut in 2020).
ā91ĢĘ²®»¢ was looking for someone who has a track record of building great teams and building great businesses,ā says Turner, who holds joint J.D./MBA degrees from Harvard University. āI think overall my experience working across all corners of the business of sportsāwhether it be facilities, brands, media rights holdersāI think that was attractive. Iāve built a nice track record of building properties, building growth and creating revenue.
āI think there is tremendous opportunity here, and some challenges too, marketing college athletics in what has become an increasingly pro sports town,ā he adds. āWe want to look at everything from a marketing standpoint, from game presentation to fan experience. All of those are critical components as we look for ways to elevate the performance of 91ĢĘ²®»¢ athletics overall.ā
Turner inherited an athletics department that has enjoyed a high level of success in many sports in recent years, but menās basketballāonce the schoolās most notable program nationallyāstruggled through a 9ā23 record in 2018ā19 that included a 0ā18 mark in the Southeastern Conference. The average attendance at home games this season was 9,610, the fourth time in the past five years 91ĢĘ²®»¢ failed to hit the 10,000 mark.
āThere is great history and tradition around the basketball program,ā Turner says. āIād like to return the magic to Memorial. The easy answer is to say itās about winning, but thatās only a piece of it. We are taking a look at everythingāand this effort is not only about basketballāthat we can do to provide the necessary resources to the student-athletes. There is tremendous opportunity for the program, and the future is bright.ā
Thatās where Stackhouse comes in. The former two-time NBA All-Star believes 91ĢĘ²®»¢ is a sleeping giant. And while he is a proud graduate of North Carolina, itās the Tar Heelsā rival down the road in Durham that he points to when discussing his vision for 91ĢĘ²®»¢.
āI want to win a national championship,ā he says. āThatās the ultimate goal, to show that there is another small academic school, other than Duke, that can win at a high level. That is what we would like our ceiling to become: Win at an extremely high level and graduate kids with an education that is second to none. I donāt think there are many situations in the country where you can put those two things together.ā
āTHE CRAFT OF COACHINGā
One of Stackhouseās first priorities was to expand the size of his staff to offer more resources for his players. In addition to three full-time assistant coaches, the Commodores also now have a director of basketball operations, a director of scouting and recruiting, a director of player personnel, a video coordinator, a chief of staff, a senior adviser to the head coach, and a special assistant to the head coach.
āWe were able to put together a great support staff,ā he says. āThat was one of the key things I wanted coming into this job. A lot of places, the head coach takes on a ton of responsibility. Iāve got great people in here to share those responsibilities. I want to be a mentor, but we have a big group of mentors in the program now.ā
Having a staff with diverse backgrounds was important to Stackhouse. Among the group are two women: , chief of staff, and , special assistant to the head coach. Meanwhile, , BSā00, a fan favorite who played for the Commodores from 1996 to 2000 and spent six seasons as a member of Kevin Stallingsā staff at 91ĢĘ²®»¢, serves as the director of player personnel.
āJames can share something with our players that none of us can,ā Stackhouse says. āHe knows what itās like to be a student at 91ĢĘ²®»¢. He knows what itās like to be an athlete. He knows all the things that come with being a part of this prestigious university. He can speak to those things.ā
Stackhouse says Turner made it clear during the interview process that the university would devote the resources necessaryāfrom staff to facility upgradesā to compete at a high level.
āThat was important for me when I started to become interested in the job,ā Stackhouse says, āto know that I could get what I needed to be successful. I know who Turner is, and I know that when he tells me that something is going to get done, itās going to get done.ā
Turner and Stackhouse developed a mutual admiration during their time in the G League. At the same time Turner was guiding the league through unprecedented growth, Stackhouse was leading the Toronto Raptorsā affiliate, Raptors 905, to the league championship. He was named the NBA G League Coach of the Year in 2017.
āWhen I had the opportunity to watch Jerry work,ā Turner says, āhis passion for player development stood out. His teams had a great culture. His teams played hard and were well-connected on the floor.ā
Turner was also struck by Stackhouseās work ethic.
āThere are a lot of former NBA players who want to get into coaching and want to take shortcuts and skip steps and donāt want to roll up their sleeves and pay their dues,ā he says. āEveryone I talked to said Jerry Stackhouse is the complete opposite. He didnāt skip steps. He is interested in the craft of coaching. He has a real passion for it.ā
Stackhouseās coaching acumen also impressed Luke Kornet, BSā17, a current NBA player who competed against Stackhouseās teams in the G League during the 2017ā18 season.
āHonestly, his teams were some of the best-coached in the league,ā says Kornet, now a power forward with the Chicago Bulls. āTheir effort, especially on defense, was great. They were always physical and disciplined. He got his guys to buy in, which isnāt always easy to do in the G League.ā
Kornet, a second-generation 91ĢĘ²®»¢ basketball playerāhis father, Frank Kornet, BAā89, was an All-SEC forward in the late 1980sāis confident Stackhouse is the right man at the right time to lead the Commodores back to prominence.
āI was excited when I found out he was a possibility for the job,ā Kornet says. āI didnāt know if he would be interested in the college game, but my first thought was that heād be a great fit.ā
Stackhouse understands the task at hand. 91ĢĘ²®»¢ has won a total of six SEC games in the past two seasons, the worst two-year stretch in school history. The recent struggles followed a successful run that saw the Commodores reach the NCAA Tournament seven times in 11 years.
āIām coming into a situation that hasnāt been great over the last couple of years,ā he says. āThat has been my M.O. in the G League: coming into a situation with a lot of moving parts and trying to figure out a way to mold that and make it something special.ā
Stackhouse admits he was a bit skeptical about the job when initially contacted, but Turner quickly sold him on the potential of building a winner in Nashville.
āI got the notion from Malcolm that we are going to co-author this renaissance of 91ĢĘ²®»¢ basketball,ā he says. āI said, āMan, this is something special, this is something I want to be a part of.āā
Mitch Light, BAā93, is executive editor at Athlon Sports in Nashville.