Two months ago, reports surfaced that the Salt Lake City Stars would be getting a new head coach.
On Wednesday morning, the Stars finally officially announced Martin Schiller will be leading the G-League affiliate of the Utah Jazz next season.
Schiller, a 33-year-old Austrian native, has coached in the German Bundesliga since 2010, last coming from MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg where he was an assistant for two years. He’s also served as an assistant to the German national team since 2015, where he crossed paths with Jazz assistant Alex Jensen.
“I appreciate the opportunity Jazz General Manager Dennis Lindsey and Stars Vice President of Basketball Operations Bart Taylor have given me to work for this great organization,” Schiller said in a team news release. “I look forward to getting started and having a successful season.”
Schiller will lead the Stars in just their second season in Salt Lake City, after going 14-36 in their inaugural season based in Salt Lake Community College. The organization went after Schiller in part because of his reputation for player development, according to the release, which will be critical as the Jazz attempt to grow this year’s draft picks such as Tony Bradley and Nigel Williams-Goss who are likely to see some time with the Stars.
Back in June when reports first broke that Schiller would join the Stars, Jensen told Utah media that he thought the hire made a lot of sense.
“He works hard, and that’s what you want out of a coach,” Jensen said at the time. “He’s very detail-oriented like a lot of Germans [sic] are. It’s great.”
It’s another big move for the Stars in a week of big moves: On Tuesday, the team announced Jonathan Rinehart as its new team president.