Jermaine Small named CEBL Coach of the Year

After leading the Edmonton Stingers to first CEBL championship, Small earns top honour

EDMONTON  — Edmonton Stingers head coach and general manager Jermaine Small was named the Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Coach of the Year on Tuesday.
Small led the Stingers to their first league championship in franchise history earlier this month after guiding Edmonton to a 7-1 record in the Summer Series, which concluded with a 90-73 victory over the Fraser Valley Bandits in the championship final on Aug.9.
He was selected in a vote cast by CEBL coaches, general managers, and media covering the CEBL Summer Series.
Small earned the honour over fellow award finalists Ryan Schmidt of the Hamilton Honey Badgers and Osvaldo Jeanty of the Ottawa Blackjacks.

“Jermaine’s leadership shined throughout the Summer Series,” said Stingers president Brett Fraser.

“His dynamic approach to the game and his relationship with his players was undoubtedly the best in his class. Congrats Coach Small.”
Edmonton earned the top seed after a 5-1 round-robin record, and then beat the expansion Ottawa Blackjacks in the semifinal, before defeating the Bandits in the final.
Since taking over the coaching reigns of the Stingers from Barnaby Craddock on June 18, 2019, Small is the winningest coach in league history, recording a 17-4 record.

Upon taking over as Edmonton’s head coach midway through the 2019 inaugural CEBL season, he won nine straight games, a CEBL record for a team’s longest win streak.
Small will receive a custom-designed ring courtesy of CEBL’s award partner, Jostens, for earning coach of the year honours.(pr)