Vanderbilt filled their head coaching vacancy Friday morning, hiring Jerry Stackhouse. Can he enliven the career of former Syracuse basketball forward Matthew Moyer?
After going winless in SEC Conference play, Vanderbilt replaced Bryce Drew with an 18-year NBA veteran and dependable coach at both the NBA and G-League level in Jerry Stackhouse.
On the surface, the news seemed out of left field considering Stackhouse’s coaching success with the Raptors 905 in the G-League (2017 Champion), and most recent involvement as an assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies has flown under the radar. However, Friday’s signing was the product of Malcolm Turner, the former G-League president, and current Athletic Director at Vanderbilt, appreciating Stackhouse’s ability to mold fringe-NBA talents into league mainstays.
After going 70-30 over two seasons for the 905, and developing talents like perennial All-Star Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet into the players they are today, Stackhouse was heavily considered for head coaching positions in the NBA over the past year-and-a-half. The 44-year-old’s resume as a player, and his short-lived yet successful coaching prowess both in development and as a bench boss speaks for itself.
It’ll be interesting to see how Stackhouse fares in the recruiting department against coaches across the SEC, and against in-region rival Memphis whose bench boss is a fellow NBA veteran in Penny Hardaway.
While there will always be uncertainty in terms of recruiting, it almost feels destined that Stackhouse’s earliest and most impactful exploits as a college coach will be the product of his ability to develop what he already has at his disposal. This includes former Syracuse forward Matthew Moyer, whose two seasons split between Central New York and Nashville have been far from noteworthy.
Despite being encouraged to take more shots from outside, and play more loosely during his first year at Vanderbilt, inconsistency resulted in Moyer starting in just five of the 31 games he played in (Moyer started in 20 of 35 games at Syracuse), and his minutes per game dipped to under 14.
On paper, Moyer doesn’t seem destined to break barriers in his third year playing at the collegiate level. However, several glimpses of promise suggest that the 21-year-old can thrive as a dependable role player if he puts everything together like we’ve seen him do on two consecutive December 5th nights.
In December of 2017, Moyer scored 18 points on seven-of-nine shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in a Syracuse win over UConn. Exactly one year later, Moyer scored 14 points on four-of-six shooting in a win against Middle Tennessee State.
Talent isn’t the issue, confidence is. The 2019-2020 season provides a clean slate for both Vanderbilt as a program and for Moyer as a player who is hoping to put it all together before his talents are given up on entirely.
Vanderbilt broke a 65-year Southeastern Conference play losing record in 2018. Maybe Moyer will be one of the few Commodores to flip that narrative completely next season and prevent his team from missing the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year.