Spurs assistant Becky Hammon will not take Colorado State men's job
Becky Hammon is staying with the San Antonio Spurs.
Hammon had extensive discussions with Colorado State University about its men’s basketball job, but sources told Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde that Hammon will remain in San Antonio, where she is in her fifth season as an assistant on Gregg Popovich’s bench.
Y sources: After extensive conversations with Colorado State, Becky Hammon is opting to stay in the NBA with the Spurs.
— Pat Forde (@YahooForde) March 17, 2018
Yahoo Sports’ Pete Thamel wrote earlier this month that Hammon’s candidacy to replace Larry Eustachy, who resigned after multiple investigations into the “climate” of his program. Thamel reported that Hammon was a top candidate for the position at CSU, where she played from 1995-1999 and left as the women’s program’s all-time leading scorer.
Had the hire come to fruition, she would have been the first female head coach of a Division I men’s basketball program.
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford lauded the 40-year-old Hammon’s coaching ability to Yahoo Sports:
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford, reached by phone by Yahoo Sports on Monday, lauded Hammon’s work ethic, basketball savvy and “emotional IQ that’s so important to being a successful coach.” Hammon joined the Spurs in 2014 as the first full-time paid female assistant coach on an NBA staff. Since that time, she’s perhaps stood out most by blending in. “She’s established a great presence in our group,” Buford said. “She’s got the respect of our coaches, our players and our organization. She has great insight at two different levels, both in the coaching environment and strategic discussions and she can also take [instruction] to our players and discuss with them.”
Before her time with the Spurs, Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star and ended her playing career as the No. 8 all-time scorer in WNBA history.
With Hammon out of the picture, recently-fired Georgia head coach Mark Fox has reportedly emerged as a candidate at CSU. Fox had a 163-133 record in nine seasons with the Bulldogs, reaching the NCAA tournament twice. UGA subsequently hired ex-Indiana coach Tom Crean to replace Fox.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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