# Damon Stoudamire
**Damon Stoudamire** (Damon Lamon Stoudamire, born 1973 in [Portland, Oregon](https://www.edgepedia.org/portland-oregon)) is an American basketball coach and former professional point guard who won the 1995-96 NBA Rookie of the Year award with the [Toronto Raptors](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-raptors) and later served as head coach at Pacific and [Georgia Tech](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgia-tech). Nicknamed "Mighty Mouse," he played 13 NBA seasons for the Raptors, Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, and San Antonio Spurs, averaging 13.4 points and 6.1 assists over 878 games.[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html) • [2](https://ramblinwreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2024-25_GTMBB_Notes_Final_v3.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1973, Portland, Oregon; 5 ft 10 in, 171 lb (178 cm, 77 kg), shoots left[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html) |
| College | Arizona, 1991-95; 1,849 career points, 663 assists, 272 three-point field goals[3](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/12/12/209339948) |
| Draft | First round, 7th overall, by the Toronto Raptors in 1995, the franchise's first-ever draft pick[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html) • [4](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/5/31/208466376) |
| Rookie season | 19.0 points, 9.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds per game; 1995-96 NBA Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie selection[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html) |
| NBA career | 13 seasons, 878 games, 13.4 points, 6.1 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 35.7% on three-pointers[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html) |
| Head coaching | Pacific (2016-21), Georgia Tech (2023-26); Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year in 2020[5](https://lsusports.net/sports/mb/roster/season/2026-27/staff/damon-stoudamire) • [6](https://lsusports.net/news/2026/04/13/damon-stoudamire-joins-coach-will-wades-lsu-basketball-staff) |
| Current role | Assistant on coach Will Wade's LSU staff for the 2026-27 season[6](https://lsusports.net/news/2026/04/13/damon-stoudamire-joins-coach-will-wades-lsu-basketball-staff) |
## College career at Arizona
Stoudamire played four seasons (1991-95) at the [University of Arizona](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-arizona) under Hall of Fame head coach [Lute Olson](https://www.edgepedia.org/lute-olson), winning 101 games as a Wildcat.[5](https://lsusports.net/sports/mb/roster/season/2026-27/staff/damon-stoudamire) • [7](https://gotigersgo.com/documents/download/2011/10/26/2010-11_MBB_13-36_tigers_web.pdf) As a senior team captain in 1994-95 he led Arizona to a Pac-10 title and the 1994 Final Four, becoming a consensus [All-America](https://www.edgepedia.org/all-america) selection and a National Player of the Year finalist.[3](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/12/12/209339948) The program won the 1994 and 1995 Pac-10 Conference championships during his time in Tucson.[6](https://lsusports.net/news/2026/04/13/damon-stoudamire-joins-coach-will-wades-lsu-basketball-staff)
His senior season numbers were 22.8 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.3 rebounds per game, leading the Pac-10 in both scoring and assists and finishing second in the conference in free throw percentage (.826). He was named 1995 Pac-10 co-Player of the Year.[3](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/12/12/209339948) He left Arizona as the fourth leading scorer in school history with 1,849 points, first in career three-point field goals (272) and three-point attempts (677), and second in assists (663) at the time of his induction into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.[3](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/12/12/209339948)
Two records stand out from his Arizona years: he is the only player in school history to score 40 or more points in a game twice in one season, and his 45 points at Stanford in 1995 rank second on Arizona's all-time single-game list. In 1995 he became only the second player in Pac-10 history to finish a career with 1,800 points, 600 assists, and 400 rebounds, and he recorded the sixth triple-double in Pac-10 history with 32 points, 14 assists, and 11 rebounds against Oregon in Tucson as a senior.[3](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/12/12/209339948)
## NBA playing career
The 1995 NBA Draft was the league's first held with a Canadian franchise selecting, and the expansion Raptors used the seventh pick on Stoudamire. The choice was poorly received at the time: he was picked higher than most observers expected and was booed by fans at SkyDome, and he told reporters, "I'm pretty sure a lot of people don't feel I was worth the seventh pick. But I'm damn sure that I'm going to try and make everybody in Toronto proud."[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1995/06/30/picking-apart-the-surprises/13e29e6f-4094-450e-a5fe-2d418ffcf3ff/)
The rookie season answered the skeptics. Playing 40.9 minutes a night for the expansion team, Stoudamire averaged 19.0 points, 9.3 assists, and 4.0 rebounds, was named an All-Rookie selection, and won the 1995-96 NBA Rookie of the Year award.[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html) His 9.3 assists per game stood as his career best.[7](https://gotigersgo.com/documents/download/2011/10/26/2010-11_MBB_13-36_tigers_web.pdf) He followed that with 20.2 points and 8.8 assists per game in 1996-97, his highest scoring season.[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html)
After three seasons in Toronto (1995-98), he spent seven seasons with the [Portland Trail Blazers](https://www.edgepedia.org/portland-trail-blazers) (1998-05), then played for the [Memphis Grizzlies](https://www.edgepedia.org/memphis-grizzlies) (2005-08) and closed his career with a brief stint on the [San Antonio Spurs](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-antonio-spurs) in 2008.[2](https://ramblinwreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2024-25_GTMBB_Notes_Final_v3.pdf) His personal numbers in the post-Toronto years never returned to his Toronto peak, and he finished with career averages of 13.4 points, 6.1 assists, and 3.5 rebounds on 40.6% shooting from the field and 35.7% from three-point range.[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html) He played on six playoff teams over his career.[9](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/arizona.sidearmsports.com/documents/2016/6/30/2014_15_Arizona_guide.pdf)
## Coaching career
Stoudamire moved into coaching the season after his retirement, starting at Rice as director of player development in 2008-09. He then returned to college basketball as an assistant at the [University of Memphis](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-memphis) (2011-13) and at his alma mater Arizona (2013-15), went back to Memphis for one more season (2015-16), and took his first head coaching job at Pacific at the start of the 2016-17 season.[5](https://lsusports.net/sports/mb/roster/season/2026-27/staff/damon-stoudamire)
While leading Pacific, he received the 2020 Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year award, an annual honor recognizing the best minority coach in Division I basketball.[6](https://lsusports.net/news/2026/04/13/damon-stoudamire-joins-coach-will-wades-lsu-basketball-staff) He returned to the NBA as an assistant with the [Boston Celtics](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-celtics) from 2021 to 2023, and on March 14, 2023 he became the 15th head coach in Georgia Tech men's basketball history.[5](https://lsusports.net/sports/mb/roster/season/2026-27/staff/damon-stoudamire) • [2](https://ramblinwreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2024-25_GTMBB_Notes_Final_v3.pdf) His Georgia Tech teams made postseason play in the NIT in 2025, and he led the Yellow Jackets for three seasons (2023-26).[5](https://lsusports.net/sports/mb/roster/season/2026-27/staff/damon-stoudamire) • [6](https://lsusports.net/news/2026/04/13/damon-stoudamire-joins-coach-will-wades-lsu-basketball-staff) In April 2026 he joined coach [Will Wade](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-wade)'s LSU staff as an assistant for the 2026-27 season.[6](https://lsusports.net/news/2026/04/13/damon-stoudamire-joins-coach-will-wades-lsu-basketball-staff)
## Family and legacy
Basketball runs in the family: his cousins include former Arizona guard Salim Stoudamire and former NBA player [Terrence Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/terrence-jones).[1](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html) In Toronto he remains a franchise landmark as the Raptors' first draft pick and their first Rookie of the Year, an award later won by [Vince Carter](https://www.edgepedia.org/vince-carter) (1999) and [Scottie Barnes](https://www.edgepedia.org/scottie-barnes) (2022).[4](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/5/31/208466376)
## References
1. [Damon Stoudamire Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more, Basketball-Reference](https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/stoudda01.html)
2. [Georgia Tech 2024-25 Men's Basketball Notes, ramblinwreck.com](https://ramblinwreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2024-25_GTMBB_Notes_Final_v3.pdf)
3. [Damon Stoudamire HOF, University of Arizona Athletics](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/12/12/209339948)
4. [Stoudamire, The Answer as a Coach, University of Arizona Athletics](https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/2013/5/31/208466376)
5. [Damon Stoudamire roster bio, LSUsports.net](https://lsusports.net/sports/mb/roster/season/2026-27/staff/damon-stoudamire)
6. [Damon Stoudamire Joins Coach Will Wade's LSU Basketball Staff, LSUsports.net, April 13, 2026](https://lsusports.net/news/2026/04/13/damon-stoudamire-joins-coach-will-wades-lsu-basketball-staff)
7. [2011-12 Memphis Basketball media guide, gotigersgo.com](https://gotigersgo.com/documents/download/2011/10/26/2010-11_MBB_13-36_tigers_web.pdf)
8. [Picking Apart the Surprises, The Washington Post, June 30, 1995](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1995/06/30/picking-apart-the-surprises/13e29e6f-4094-450e-a5fe-2d418ffcf3ff/)
9. [2014-15 Arizona Basketball Guide](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/arizona.sidearmsports.com/documents/2016/6/30/2014_15_Arizona_guide.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › Basketball players and coaches (biographies) › NBA players, 1996–2010 › NBA guards, 1996–2010*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license