SAN JOSE, Calif. – Tim Miles has finalized his 2021-22 coaching staff for San Jose State men's basketball with the addition of Damany Hendrix, who joins the Spartans after two seasons on staff at Vanderbilt University. Additionally, Miles officially announced the addition of Austin Sleight as the program's video coordinator.
"Damany is an exciting hire for San Jose State hoops," Miles said. "He is a Bay Area coach with outstanding skills as a trainer and recruiter. Damany is a connector in all ways and is already making his impact felt on our program."
A native of Vallejo, Hendrix returns to the Bay after two seasons with Vanderbilt men's basketball. He began his stint with the Commodores in 2019-20 as the team's director of player development and quality control. In the role, Hendrix was responsible for overseeing student-athlete development programs, community service initiatives and special events among other duties. In May 2020, he was promoted to assistant coach and helped the program to a second round appearance in the SEC Tournament.
Prior to his time in Nashville, Hendrix was an assistant coach in the NBA G League for the Northern Arizona Suns and the Raptors 905, where he worked under head coach Jerry Stackhouse before following him to Vanderbilt.
"I'm truly excited to be here and to be able to return home to the Bay Area," Hendrix said. "I feel like this a dream come true situation for myself, being able to coach at a high level in your own backyard. A lot of coaches don't get that opportunity, so I'm excited about that. I'm also definitely excited to work with Coach Miles, a guy who has won at every level with almost 400 wins as a head coach, so obviously he knows a lot about the game and I'm excited to soak it up, learn from him and work with a great staff."
Hendrix, a two-time all-conference selection at Lamar, began his collegiate coaching career as a volunteer at Cal Maritime Academy before serving as a graduate manager at Cal State Northridge. He initially got his toes wet in the coaching profession in 2004 at his alma mater, Vallejo High School, where he spent four seasons on staff before taking on a role with the Oakland Soldiers, an AAU team, a role he held for six seasons.
Following his time with CSUN, Hendrix returned to the high school ranks as the head coach at Justin-Siena High for two seasons before packing his bags for China, where he served as a player development assistant in Beijing. Two years later, he returned to the United States to join Stackhouse's staff at Raptors 905.
Hendrix graduated from Lamar in 2003.
Sleight joins the Spartans after spending four seasons with Miles at the University of Nebraska where he was the Cornhuskers' head manager. In the role, he directed a staff of up to 15 managers while performing various duties to help the coaching staff with day-to-day and game day activities.
"Austin worked with us at Nebraska and will excel in the video role," Miles said. "He knows how our operation works and is valuable for us in every capacity, from basketball to recruiting."
Sleight spent the 2020-21 season as a graduate assistant and video coordinator for Stephen F. Austin, where he was in control of all video for basketball related activities, including breaking down opponent scouting materials, providing video analysis for opponents and self-scouting for games and practices, among many other duties. He will hold a similar role for San Jose State as the program's new video coordinator.
"I would like to thank Coach Miles for the opportunity to be a part of such a great program," Sleight said. "It's been great getting to know all the assistant coaches we have in place – David Miller, Ben Johnson, Damany Hendrix and our director of operations, Trent Miyagishima. San Jose, as a city and program, has been great since the first day I got here. I'm looking forward to this upcoming season and think that we will be extremely successful for years to come."