Edmonton Stingers GM, head coach leaves team to focus on university coaching job

Pronghorns coach Jermaine Small is helping the Edmonton Stingers during a tournament in Ontario.

The Edmonton Stingers have announced that head coach and general manager Jermaine Small is no longer with the team.

The Stingers say Small was released from his contract so he can focus full-time on his role as head coach of the men’s basketball program at the University of Lethbridge.

The announcement came Thursday afternoon.

“We appreciate the contributions Jermaine Small made to the Edmonton Stingers organization, which were highlighted by building a team that won the CEBL (Canadian Elite Basketball League) championship in 2020 and successfully defending it in 2021,” said Edmonton team president Reed Clarke in a news release.

“Jermaine was the CEBL Coach of the Year during our two championship seasons and established a culture of winning that we can build upon. We are well positioned to begin a new era of Stingers basketball, and I expect to be in a position to announce the details of that in the near future."

The Stingers finished sixth in the 2022 CEBL standings and were eliminated by Saskatchewan in the opening round of the playoffs.