Derrick Zimmerman will be promoted to Mississippi State men’s basketball’s director of scouting and analytics, the team announced Tuesday.
MSU assistant John Janovsky held that role last season. Zimmerman, a former All-SEC player at MSU, spent the last two years on the coaching staff as a graduate assistant.
“I’m really excited to promote Derrick to the director of scouting & analytics role on our staff,” MSU coach Ben Howland said in a news release. “He was an integral part and did an outstanding job of communicating with our players as a mentor during the last two years as a graduate assistant while earning his master’s degree. Derrick possesses an excellent basketball mind and was a great player at Mississippi State. He bleeds maroon and has a great love for our program and the institution. It’s a real blessing for us to have Derrick on our staff, and he has an incredibly bright future ahead of him in the coaching profession.”
Zimmerman helped the Bulldogs to two NCAA tournament appearances in 2002 and 2003, then had a 10-year professional career over six countries. At MSU, Zimmerman sits in second place with 514 career assists only behind Dee Bost. He led the SEC in assists in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. Zimmerman is also second in program history with 205 career steals, trailing Ray White for the most all-time at MSU.
“Being able to continue my coaching career at Mississippi State means a lot to me,” Zimmerman said. “I had a chance to be a part of championship teams when I was a player here. It’s a blessing to be on this staff, and I’m thankful to Coach Howland for the opportunity to continue to pursue my coaching dream. What better place for me to be doing it than Mississippi State, a place I love and that’s dear to my heart.”
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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