Jerry Stackhouse says he doesn't regret accepting the head coaching job at Vanderbilt despite being confident he would have been in the mix for the head coaching positions that successively opened up in the NBA.
"As my mom said, 'One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,' " he told ESPN's Outside the Lines on Wednesday.
Stackhouse, 44, had a couple interviews already lined up for possible NBA head coaching jobs when he was hired by Vanderbilt on April 5.
He had said in his introductory news conference that he decided to take the Vanderbilt job because of his relationship with the university's new athletic director, Malcolm Turner, and the opportunity to turn around the Commodores' program.
His lone head coaching experience is two years in the G League where he got to know fellow North Carolina graduate Turner, who was the league's president. Turner took over as athletic director at Vanderbilt on Feb. 1.
The 18-year NBA veteran and two-time All-Star was considered in NBA coaching searches last year by the Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic after his success coaching the Raptors' NBA G League team. Stackhouse was an assistant with Toronto during the 2015-16 season.
Then he went 70-30 in two seasons with the Raptors 905, reaching the finals twice and winning a championship. He was the league's Coach of the Year for 2016-17 when Turner presented him the trophy in his role as league president.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.