Derrick Zimmerman

Derrick Zimmerman

Current position
Title	Head Coach (interim)
Team	Louisiana
Conference	Sun Belt
Record	0–1 (.000)
Biographical details
Born	(1981-12-02) December 2, 1981 Monroe, Louisiana
Playing career
1999–2003	Mississippi State
2003–2005	Columbus Riverdragons
2005–2006	Austin Toros
2006	New Jersey Nets
2006–2007	Brose Baskets
2007	Air Avellino
2007–2008	HKK Široki
2008–2010	Budivelnyk
2010–2011	Hoverla Ivano-Frankivsk
2011–2012	BC Kyiv
2012–2013	Dnipro-Azot
2013	Neckar Riesen Ludwigsburg
2014	Energa Czarni Słupsk
Position(s)	Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2018–2020	Mississippi State (GA)
2021–2024	Louisiana (asst.)
2024–present	Louisiana (interim HC)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
2020–2021	Mississippi State (Director of Scouting and Analytics)
Head coaching record
Overall	0–1 (.000)
Tournaments	0−0
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
As player 2x D-League Defensive Player of the Year (2005, 2006) All-NBDL Second Team (2005)

Derrick Dewayne Zimmerman (born December 2, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player currently serving as the interim head basketball coach at Louisiana. He played collegiately at Mississippi State University.

College career

For the Mississippi State Bulldogs, he averaged 8.9 points, 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 0.8 blocks. He shot 15 of 52 three-pointers as a senior and 64.9% on free throws.

Professional career

He was selected 40th overall in the 2003 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, and played two games with the NBA's New Jersey Nets during the 2005–06 season.

Those two games ended up being Zimmerman's only playing time in the NBA. His 2nd game ever (also his final NBA game ever) was played on April 19, 2006, in a 83–90 loss to the New York Knicks where he recorded 4 points, 5 assists and 1 rebound.

He played in the NBA D-League for the Columbus Riverdragons (2004–05) and Austin Toros (2005–06). Derrick was named the NBDL's Defensive Player of the Year for two consecutive seasons (Austin 2005–06, Columbus 2004–05). In December 2006, he signed a one-month contract with Brose Baskets of the German Basketball Bundesliga. After his contract expired, he signed with Italian team Air Avellino until the end of the season.

In the summer of 2008, he signed with the Ukrainian club Budivelnyk Kyiv. He stayed in Ukraine till 2013, and later played with Hoverla Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv and Dnipro-Azot.

In February 2013, Zimmerman moved to Germany and signed with Neckar Riesen Ludwigsburg for the rest of the season. In January 2014, after a couple months without a club, he signed with Energa Czarni Słupsk of Poland for the rest of the season.

Coaching

After his playing career, Zimmerman returned to his alma mater, Mississippi State, in 2018, serving two seasons as a graduate assistant and one as director of scouting and analytics.

In 2021, Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin hired Zimmerman as an assistant coach. On December 19, 2024, amid a 3–9 start to the season, Louisiana fired Marlin and named Zimmerman the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

Head coaching record

College

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (Sun Belt Conference) (2024–present)
2024–25	Louisiana	0–1	0–0
Louisiana:		0–1 (.000)	0–0 (–)
Total:		0–1 (.000)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

External links

• Legabasket.it profile Archived February 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
• Eurobasket.com profile
• FIBA.com profile