After firing head coach Taylor Jenkins with just nine games left in the regular season, the Grizzlies will tab assistant Tuomas Iisalo to take Jenkins’ place, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Iisalo was one of several new assistants hired by the Grizzlies last summer when they revamped the coaching staff under Jenkins. He served as Memphis’ acting coach in November when Jenkins was away from the team due to a death in the family, a sign that he’d be the next man up following the head coach’s dismissal on Friday.

A native of Finland, Iisalo played professional basketball in his home country from 2000-14 before transitioning to coaching. He began his coaching career in Finland, then was in Germany from 2016-23, first as the head coach of the Crailsheim Merlins (2016-21) and then as the coach of Telekom Baskets Bonn (2021-23). Iisalo spent the 2023/24 season in France coaching Paris Basketball.

Iisalo has an impressive international résumé, having earned Coach of the Year honors in the German League in 2022 and 2023 and again in the French League in 2024. He led Paris Basketball to a EuroCup championship last year after winning a Basketball Champions League title with the Telekom Baskets in 2023.

While the Grizzlies seem likely to conduct a full-fledged coaching search once their season comes to an end, it’s possible a strong finish this spring would make Iisalo a legitimate candidate for the full-time job.