The Idaho Stampede Introduce New Coach

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has named Dean Cooper as head coach of the Idaho Stampede, the team’s D-League affiliate, pending league approval. Per team policy, financial terms were not released. Cooper is the 10th head coach in Stampede history and the sixth since the organization became a member of the NBA Development League.

Cooper spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach for the Houston Rockets on Kevin McHale’s staff. He began his NBA career with the Rockets in 1999 as a video coordinator, eventually becoming an assistant coach to Rudy Tomjanovich. When Jeff Van Gundy succeeded Tomjanovich, Cooper transitioned to the front office as a personnel scout for one season before eventually becoming the Director of Scouting (2004-07) and Vice President of Player Personnel (2007-08).