Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball Head Coach Stan Heath announced the hiring of LaMonta Stone as the program’s Director of Basketball Operations. Stone, who previously served as an assistant coach at Eastern during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons, returns to Ypsilanti with a wealth of experience in the world of basketball.
“I am excited to have LaMonta Stone join our staff as our Director of Basketball Operations,” Heath said. “He has been a friend and a colleague that I have known for a long period of time. He was a very successful high school coach in the state of Michigan and is an experienced college coach, including at Eastern Michigan in the early 2000’s as well as at Ohio State and Bowling Green. He is someone that I know can tackle a lot of the areas the Director of Basketball of Operations does, whether it is helping out with logistics for our travel, working with our academic coordinators, our schedule, and having a relationship with our players serving as an extra voice to help our guys move in the right direction as a mentor.”
“I am extremely excited to be returning to Eastern Michigan basketball to work under the direction of Head Coach Stan Heath,” Stone said. “I look forward to assisting where I can to help this program and all the student-athletes reach their goals and continue to grow overall.”
Stone rejoins the EMU staff after spending two seasons as the head boys’ basketball coach at his alma mater, River Rouge High School, where he directed one of the most successful high school programs in the state of Michigan. Stone, led the Panthers to back-to-back Class B state championships in 1998 and 1999, with both of those teams earning Top-25 national rankings in the USA Today poll. He also guided the Panthers in 1994-00 and 2015-17. All told, 10 of Stone’s River Rouge teams won district titles and seven were regional champions. Both the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press named Stone Coach of the Year in 1999 after he guided his squad to a state runner-up finish. He also was singled out for the coach of the year honor by the Michigan Coaches Association in 1997.
During his time with River Rouge, Stone’s program produced numerous collegiate players, including Ohio State University’s Brent Darby. He also worked with Duez Henderson, who played for the University of Iowa, and Chester Taylor, who played football for the University of Toledo before playing in the NFL with both the Baltimore Ravens and the Minnesota Vikings.
Outside of his times leading River Rouge, Stone also spent time on staffs at four different universities. He began his coaching career in 1990 as a volunteer boys basketball coach at River Rouge. From there, he went on to become an assistant men’s basketball coach at the University of Michigan-Dearborn from 1991-94 before returning to River Rouge as the head coach in 1994. After his first stint with River Rouge, Stone worked at Eastern Michigan (2000-02), Ohio State (2002-04) and Bowling Green (2004-14).
In his first stint with the Eagles, Stone worked under Jim Boone. Additionally, Eastern advanced to the MAC Tournament both years. Stone’s second collegiate position came at Ohio State where he worked under Jim O’Brien. During his two years in Columbus, the Buckeyes competed in the 2003 National Invitational Tournament (NIT), falling to Georgia Tech in the first round.
At Bowling Green, Stone was hired by then-head coach Dan Dakich ahead of the 2004-05 season and worked for Dakich for three seasons. Stone stayed on staff when Louis Orr took over the program in time for the 2007-08 season and his departure at the end of the 2013-14 campaign. During his 10 seasons with the Falcons, the team competed in a pair of postseason tournaments, including the 2009 NIT and the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
Stone graduated from River Rouge in 1984 after participating in basketball, track and field, and football. He completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Wayne State University in 1999.
Stone and his wife, Tomica, have three sons, LaMonta II, Lance, and Landen.
