ATLANTA — Georgia Tech is finalizing a deal to hire former NBA player Damon Stoudamire to be its next men’s basketball coach, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Pete Thamel.

The 49-year-old Stoudamire had a successful 13-season NBA career and was wrapping up his second season as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics. Stoudamire won NBA’s Rookie of the Year award in the 1996 season.

Before he joined the Celtics’ coaching staff, Stoudamire worked as an assistant coach at Rice, Arizona and Memphis, before he worked as the head coach at the University of the Pacific from 2016 to 2021.

During his time at Pacific, Stoudamire went 71-77.

Last week, Georgia Tech fired its previous head coach Josh Pastner after seven seasons in charge of the program. Pastner finished his time in Atlanta with a 109-114 overall record and 51-78 conference record.

The school will hope that Stoudamire can improve upon these records.

Stoudamire’s contract details remain unclear, but ESPN reports that it is a 5-year deal.

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