Former NBA forward Marreese Speights has been named as an assistant coach for the Georgia Southern Eagles basketball program. The trend in college basketball of adding former NBA players as either assistant coaches or even head coaches have grown significantly in the past few years. Speights, who is 35 years old, played his college basketball with the Florida Gators. He will be an assistant coach for Georgia Southern Head Coach Charlie Henry beginning during the 2023-24 college basketball season. Adding NBA knowledge and experience can be a huge advantage for a mid-major team like the Eagles.
.@Mospeights16 Joins Men’s Basketball Staff
? https://t.co/NZLfPTdyEI#HailSouthern | #GATA pic.twitter.com/EjCErfFHe0
— Georgia Southern Men’s Basketball (@GSAthletics_MBB) April 14, 2023
In his ten-year NBA career, Marreese Speights averaged 7.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game. He paired those numbers with a field goal percentage of 45.9 percent and a three-point percent of 35.6 percent. Speights spent three years with both the Golden State Warriors and the Philadelphia 76er but also played with the Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando Magic, and Cleveland Cavaliers. He of course was a key rotational player on the Golden State Warriors when they won the 2015 NBA Championship that would later kick off the dynasty that they would become. His experience as an assistant coach at Georgia Southern could one day help him work further up the college coaching ladder.
