TORONTO — Raptors 905 head coach Jerry Stackhouse has been named the NBA D-League coach of the year.
In his first season as head coach of the Toronto Raptors' D-League affiliate, Stackhouse led Raptors 905 to its first Central Division title and a league-best 39-11 mark, including a league-record 21-4 road mark.
Stackhouse received the only coach of the month award in team history after leading Raptors 905 to a 9-3 record in December. Raptors 905 continued to improve with a 10-2 record in January and an 11-2 record in March.
The Raptors used their D-League affiliate to provide valuable playing minutes for prospects Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Bruno Caboclo. Stackhouse also guided D-League defensive player of the year Edy Tavares and league all-star Axel Toupane to callups from other NBA teams.
"He did a great job growing and developing that team," Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said Wednesday. "I saw Tavares got defensive player of the year, that was huge. And I thought our guys that went down, Freddy and Siakam and those guys, did a great job of going down and playing."
Raptors 905 hosted the Maine Red Claws in Game 2 of the D-League Eastern Conference final Wednesday night, leading the best-of-three series 1-0.
Stackhouse played 19 seasons in the NBA following a stellar collegiate career at North Carolina. He joined the Raptors organization as an assistant coach in 2015.
The Canadian Press
