Vipers Announce General Manager and Head Coach
October 1, 2019 - NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release
EDINBURG, Texas - The Rio Grande Valley Vipers, single-affiliation NBA G League partner of the Houston Rockets, today named Travis Stockbridge as General Manager and Mahmoud Abdelfattah as Head Coach.
At the age of 25, Stockbridge becomes the youngest General Manager in Vipers history, and fourth overall. He is also the second youngest in NBA G League history.
As a big part of the 2018-19 G League Championship team, Stockbridge assisted previous Vipers general manager, Jimmy Paulis, as the Director of Basketball Operations. He was involved in all facets of the team, including roster construction and game preparation.
Stockbridge initially joined the Houston Rockets organization during his freshman year of college in 2012. Serving as a Basketball Operations Intern during his college years, he moved into a full-time role as Basketball Operations Coordinator upon graduation from Rice University. Through his time with the Rockets, his work has been primarily focused on scouting and the G League.
"I am extremely excited to step into this new role. The Vipers have been the premier G League franchise, and I am grateful to be part of their incredible tradition. I look forward to working with our excellent staff to carry on that tradition, by building a winning team and preparing our players for the next level," Stockbridge mentioned on his new role.
Abdelfattah becomes the eighth coach in franchise history and first Palestinian-American head coach in G League history. He served as Assistant Coach under former RGV Head Coach and current Philadelphia 76ers Assistant Coach, Joseph Blair, during the 2018-19 championship season.
During his time as assistant coach, the Vipers finished with a 34-16 record, ranking first in the Western Conference and Southwest Division. RGV also led in three different league categories; points (128.4), rebounds (56.2) and three pointers made (90) per game.
"I'm blessed to be the next head coach in RGV. I've had the opportunity to learn from Matt Brase, Joseph Blair, and everyone involved with the RGV Vipers and Houston Rockets. I'm looking forward to this great opportunity," Abdelfattah mentioned.
Originally, Abdelfattah joined the Vipers staff in 2017-18 as a Basketball Operations Assistant. He worked under former RGV Head Coach and current Houston Rockets Assistant Coach, Matt Brase.
In addition to working on the staff in RGV, Abdelfattah has also served as an Assistant Coach for the Jordanian National team in 2018. Prior to RGV, Abdelfattah worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater St. Cloud State for four seasons, where he oversaw the player development program and led the recruiting efforts for the Huskies. Abdelfattah began his coaching career as a student assistant coach at St. Cloud State in 2010.
He was also an assistant coach at Perspective Charter School throughout 2011-13. Abdelfattah additionally coached with Team NLP, 17-U AAU team since the summer of 2009 where his 17-U team won the National AAU Tournament in Orlando, Florida with an 8-0 record.
Abdelfattah played basketball two years at St. Cloud where his team advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Furthermore, he also played at Wilbur Wright College in Chicago where he was named the team's most valuable player, region MVP, first team All-Region, second team All-American, All-Star game nominee and participant and All-Conference first team in 2008.
"We are thrilled that Mahmoud will have the opportunity to lead this team. It's been a privilege to work with him these past two years, and he's been an intricate part of the success we've had during that time. He has consistently grown as a coach due to his tremendous work ethic. He has had the benefit of working under great coaches, in Matt Brase and Joseph Blair, and that, coupled with his strong background in player development, should set him and the team up for continued success," Stockbridge commented on the qualification of Abdelfattah as head coach.
Season tickets for the Vipers 2019-20 season are on sale now at (956) 972-1144 or the RGV Vipers official website. Opening night for the RGV Vipers tips off on November 9 against the Austin Spurs at 7:30 p.m. CT at Bert Ogden Arena. The first 1,000 fans will receive a replica championship ring. The complete 2019-20 schedule can be found at www.rgvipers.com.
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