sign in sign up
<<
Home , Ben Braun, Gary Williams, Leon Powe, Lute Olson, Mike Montgomery

Co a c h i n g St a f f

74 Br a u n Pr o f i l e 78 re y n a u d Pr o f i l e 79 Mo u t o n Pr o f i l e 80 ro b e r t s Pr o f i l e 81 St a f f Pr o f i l e s

73 , who ranks among the winningest active Divi- to beat three Top 10 schools in the same season with victories sion I men’s coaches, begins his first season as the over , UCLA and Arizona during the course of the the at Rice University. year. Then, after earning a bid to the NIT, the Bears went on a Braun brings more than 30 years of head coaching experi- 5-0 run to capture the title — Cal’s first postseason tournament ence to Rice and has had unequaled success everywhere he championship since the Bears won the 1959 NCAA crown. Cal has been. Prior to being named Rice University’s coach April 7, finished the 1998-99 campaign with a 22-11 record. 2008, Braun guided the University of California to more post- A year later, Braun took a freshman-dominated squad season appearances and postseason wins than any other bas- back to the postseason as the Bears reached the quarterfinals ketball coach in school history. of the NIT. On Jan. 15, 2000, he picked up his 400th career vic- During his 12-year tenure at Cal, Braun directed the Bears tory with a 71-65 win at Oregon State. In 2000-01, the Bears to five NCAA Tournament berths and three trips to the NIT. He returned to the NCAA Tournament and finished with a 20-11 led the 1998 Bears to a berth in the NCAA Sweet 16 and to an record. Lampley — Braun’s first recruit at Cal — became the NIT championship in 1999. school’s all-time leading scorer late in his senior campaign with Earlier this year, Braun coached Cal to the second round of 1,776 points. the NIT, losing on the road to eventual champion Ohio State. The Bears again won 23 games and tied for second in While at the University of California, two of his players the Pac-10 race in 2001-02. Cal reached the semifinals of earned Pac-10 Player of the Year honors — Ed Gray in 1997 the conference tournament by defeating UCLA in the opening and Sean Lampley in 2001 — while was the 2004 round and earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA playoffs, where the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Overall, Braun’s players re- Bears toppled Penn before falling to Pittsburgh. ceived All-Pac-10 status nine times, Pac-10 All-Freshman no- In 2003, Cal reached the second round of the NCAA Tour- Ben Braun’s Coaching Record tice on seven occasions and Pac-10 All-Academic accolades nament behind All-Pac-10 forwards Joe Shipp and Amit Tamir. Year Overall Pct. MAC Pct. Postseason 15 times. Shipp ended his career holding third place on the Bears’ all- Sienna Heights 1994-95 20-10 .667 12-6/3rd .667 NIT Tournament As a result of his success, not only at Cal, but during pre- time scoring list, while teammate Brian Wethers finished in the Year Overall Pct. Postseason 1977-78 8-21 .276 1995-96 25-6 .806 14-4/1st .778 MAC Champions, NCAA Tournament vious head coaching stops at Eastern Michigan and Siena No. 15 position. 1978-79 24-6 .800 MAC Coach of the Year Heights, Braun ranks 11th among all active Division I coaches Behind tournament MVP Leon Powe, Cal defeated USC 1979-80 21-11 .656 Totals 185-132 .583 103-79 .566 with 552 victories. He was 219-154 in his 12 seasons at Berk- and Oregon to reach the Pac-10 Tournament final for the first 1980-81 22-11 .667 ley and ranked second among active Pac-10 coaches in over- time ever in 2006. The Bears then earned a No. 7 regional seed 1981-82 19-13 .594 Michigan NAIA Coach of the Year California all wins and Pac-10 wins (110). in the NCAA Tournament and finished the year with a 20-11 1982-83 21-12 .637 Year Overall Pct. Pac-10 Pct. Postseason The 1997 Pac-10 Coach of the Year and a finalist for the mark. On Nov. 21, 2005, Cal defeated Long Beach State, 88- 1983-84 15-14 .517 1996-97 23-9 .719 12-6/T-2nd .667 NCAA Sweet 16 2003 Naismith National Coach of the Year, Braun has posted a 69, to give Braun his 500th career win. 1984-85 18-15 .545 Pac-10 Coach of the Year 552-389 career record. He finished his Cal career second only Braun’s 2007 Cal team fought off injuries to a pair of key Totals 148-103 .590 1997-98 12-15 .444 8-10/T-5th .444 to (1925-54, 449-294) in both longevity and wins post players to reach the semifinals of the Pac-10 Tournament 1998-99 22-11 .667 8-10/T-5th .444 NIT Champions and his Cal winning percentage of .587 was the best at the for the fourth time in six years. The Bears upset top-seed and Eastern Michigan 1999-00 18-15 .545 7-11/7th .389 NIT Quarterfinals school since Hall of Famer guided the Bears to a fourth-ranked UCLA, 76-69, in overtime in the quarterfinals, Year Overall Pct. MAC Pct. Postseason 2000-01 20-11 .645 11-7/T-4th .389 NCAA 1st Round 119-44 mark from 1955-60. and freshman Ryan Anderson was voted to the all-tournament 1985-86 5-10 .333 4-10/T-9th .286 Named interim coach, Jan. 15, 1986 2001-02 23-9 .719 12-6/T-2nd .667 NCAA 2nd Round 74 Generally regarded as one of ’s top team. 1986-87 14-15 .483 8-8/4th .500 2002-03 22-9 .710 13-5/3rd .722 NCAA 2nd Round 75 teachers and strategists, Braun brought his energetic style of This past season, Cal reached the second round of the 1987-88 22-8 .733 14-2/1st .875 MAC champions, NCAA Tournament 2003-04 13-15 .464 9-9/T-4th .500 coaching to Cal in September, 1996. During his initial season, NIT before losing to eventual champion Ohio State. Twice in MAC Coach of the Year 2004-05 13-16 .448 6-12/T-8th .333 Braun took a team that was predicted to finish in the confer- the season, the Bears defeated nationally-ranked opponents, 1988-89 17-12 .586 8-8/4th .500 Coach of U.S. Maccabiah Games team 2005-06 20-11 .645 12-6/3rd .667 NCAA 1st Round ence’s lower half, molded it into one that tied for second in the including a 69-64 upset on the road of ninth-ranked Washing- 1989-90 19-13 .594 8-8/5th .500 2006-07 16-17 .485 6-12/8th .333 league and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 with tournament vic- ton State. Sophomore Ryan Anderson was an all Pac-10 selec- 1990-91 26-7 .788 13-3/1st .813 MAC champions, NCAA Sweet 16 2007-08 17-16 .515 6-12/9th .333 NIT 2nd Round tories over Princeton and Villanova. In addition, the 23-9 over- tion. MAC Coach of the Year Totals 219-154 .587 110-106 .509 all mark gave Braun a school record for most wins by a Bear At age 54, Braun already has 31 years of experience as 1991-92 9-22 .290 4-12/8th .250 All-Time Overall Pct. League Pct. Postseason coach in his first year with the program. a head coach, including 11 highly-successful years at East- 1992-93 13-17 .433 8-10/6th .444 552-389 .587 213-185 .535 7 NCAAs, 4 NITs In 1998-99, Braun’s club became the first Cal team ever Continued on Page 76 1993-94 15-12 .556 10-8/T-5th .556

Ben Braun Head Coach w Wisconsin, 1975 550+ Wins And Counting Winningest Active Division I Basketball Coaches by Victories

Coach, Current School Wins 1. , Duke 803 2. , Arizona 780 3. , Connecticut 774

ern Michigan, where he guided the Eagles to four postseason Eastern Michigan prior to the start of the 1985-86 season, but 4. , Syracuse 771 berths, including three NCAA appearances. During his tenure midway through the year, on Jan. 15, 1986, he was elevated to 5. , West Virginia 616 there, Braun accumulated a record of 185-132, averaging al- interim head coach. Success came quickly and within two years 6. Tom Penders, Houston 608 most 18 wins per season, and was named Mid-American he had the Eagles in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Conference Coach of the Year three times. In addition, Braun school history. Braun Coaching Tree 7. , Maryland 604 coached at Siena Heights College for eight years and took the In 1989, Braun served as head coach of the U.S. men’s 8. Homer Drew, Valparaiso 593 NAIA school to a 148-103 record and five postseason tourna- basketball team at the Maccabiah Games. He took an interna- Keith Dambrot Head Coach, Akron ments. tionally-inexperienced squad to the championship round before 9. Roy Williams, North Carolina 560 Assistant under Braun at 77 76 Braun’s players proved to be successful both on the court bowing to the host Israeli team in the final. Eastern Michigan, 1986-89 10. , Wisconsin 556 and in the classroom, with Golden Bears earning Pac-10 All- During his career, Braun has coached more than a dozen Academic recognition 15 times under his direction. In 2001, players who have gone on to play in the NBA. Among those he Head Coach, South Florida three players — Morgan Lingle, Dennis Gates and Ryan Fore- has coached at Cal are Ed Gray, Michael Stewart, Sean Marks, Played for Braun at Eastern 12. , Coastal Carolina 547 Michigan, 1985-87 han-Kelly — were first-team selections, while Donte Smith was Francisco Elson, Sean Lampley, Jamal Sampson and 2008 NBA Pat Douglas, UC-Irvine 547 an honorable mention pick which gave Cal more than twice as champion Leon Powe. Tony Gonzalez, now an All-Pro tight end George Nessman Head Coach, San Jose State many all-academic members as any other school in the confer- for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, played basketball for Braun in , California 547 Assistant under Braun at ence. The Bears have had at least one all-academic pick each 1996-97 at Cal. He also coached Grant Long and Earl Boykins Cal, 2004-05 15. Larry Hunter, Western Carolina 543 of the last eight years, including Alex Pribble, a second-team while at Eastern Michigan. choice in 2005 and a first-team selection in both 2006 and `07. A native of Chicago, Braun graduated from New Trier Joe Pasternack Head Coach, New Orleans Braun began his career as an assistant coach at Park High High School, where he starred in both basketball and baseball. Assistant under Braun at School in Racine, Wis. Within two years, he accepted the head He went on to play one year of basketball at the University of Cal, 2002-07 coaching job at Siena Heights. After an 8-21 debut season in Wisconsin-LaCrosse before he transferred to the University Charles E. Ramsey Head Coach, Eastern Michigan 1977-78, his teams posted a 140-82 record over the next seven of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned a teaching degree in Eng- Assistant under Braun at EMU, years, including four 20-win campaigns. His squads qualified for lish in June of 1975 with a minor in African-American Studies. 1990-93 & Cal, 1997-2001 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) postsea- Five years later, he earned his master’s degree in guidance and son tournaments five times. During his time at Siena Heights, counseling from Siena Heights. Al Sandifer Head Coach, Sienna College he not only coached, but also taught English at the school. In Braun and wife Jessica welcomed the arrival of their son, Assistant under Braun at the summer of 1999, Braun was inducted into the first class of Julius, born in August. Sienna Heights, 1983-85 the Siena Heights Athletic Hall of Fame. Braun accepted the position of associate head coach at Gary Waters Head Coach, Cleveland State Assistant under Braun at Eastern Michigan, 1989-93 Louis Reynaud begins his first season as associate head Kevin Mouton, who has 16 years of collegiate coaching coach for the Rice basketball program. Reynaud joined the experience including the last six at Oregon State, begins his Rice staff from the University of California where he worked for first season as a member of the Rice men’s basketball coach- the past 11 seasons, including the last six seasons as associ- ing staff. ate head coach. After five years on the Oregon State staff, Mouton was Reynaud has been highly successful at both the high elevated to associate head coach prior to the 2007-08 season, school and collegiate levels. He was instrumental in helping and in January, stepped in as the interim head coach. turnaround the Cal basketball program. Before his stint at Oregon State, Mouton coached two In his 11 seasons at Cal, the Golden Bears advanced to seasons at Nebraska (2000-02). In addition to on-floor coach- the NCAA Tournament four times as well as appeared in three ing, among his responsibilities were on-campus recruiting and NIT Tournaments, winning the 1999 NIT Championship. serving as an academic advisor for the Cornhuskers’ program. Prior to joining the University of California staff, Reynaud Mouton’s collegiate coaching career began at the Colo- compiled an 84-31 record as the head basketball coach at De rado School of Mines (1992-93). He went on to coach at Butler La Salle High School. He led the school to league titles in 1994 (1993-95), Eastern Illinois (1995-96), New Hampshire (1997- and 1996 and was twice named the Bay Valley Athletic League 99) and St. Mary’s (1999-2000). He also coached two years at Coach of the Year. Reynaud’s 1996 team captured a Division I Logan, Calif., High School (1990-92). NorCal championship and finished second in the state, earning Mouton began his playing career at the University of Or- a No. 1 ranking in the Bay Area for the first time in school his- egon and after a year at Jamestown, played his final two years tory. at the University of San Francisco. He graduated from USF Reynaud’s first head coaching position was at St. Patrick- with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1989. St. Vincent High School in Vallejo, Calif., from 1990-93. In three He and his wife Jacquie are the parents of two sons, Adrian seasons the school was 69-39, posted three, 20-win seasons (15) and Elijah (4), and a daughter, Whitney (10). While Mouton and captured one Sac-Joaquin Sectional title. From 1986-90, grew up in Northern California, his roots are in the Beaumont/ Reynaud served as assistant varsity basketball coach at De La Orange area of southeast Texas. His parents now reside in Salle High School. Houston. In 1997, Reynaud was selected as head coach of the West Squad at the Round Ball Classic for high school All-Americans and he directed the prestigious ABCD summer camp for five years. In addition to his coaching experience, Reynaud served as Dean of Students at both St. Patrick-St. Vincent and De La Salle High Schools. As a high school player, Reynaud was a standout at Arch- bishop Riordan High School in San Francisco and played for the late Lyle Newcomer at Skyline College in San Bruno, Ca- 78 lif. 79 Reynaud received his bachelor’s degree from San Fran- cisco State in 1982 and a master’s degree in health/physical education from Saint Mary’s College in 1995. Reynaud and his wife, Cheryl, have one daughter, Lauren.

Louis Kevin Reynaud Mouton Associate Head Coach Assistant Coach Mike Roberts begins his first season as an assistant coach Ri c e Co a c h i n g St a f f l Su p p o r t St a f f on the Rice University staff after working the previous two years hensive breakdowns of video and cutups for opponent scout- at the University of California. ing, assisting in the development of scouting reports as well as At Cal, Roberts served as the video coordinator for the Marco Morcos coordinating film exchange. Internally, he filmed, recorded and 2006-07 season before assuming an assistant coach position logged games, practices and individual workouts. In addition to his video responsibilities, Vick was the camp for the 2007-08 season. Director of Basketball Operations operations director of Oakland University’s basketball camps This past season at Cal, Roberts was responsible for over- which grew to nearly 500 campers during his tenure. He also seeing the team’s academic program and recruiting as well as served as an administrative assistant, with a wide-range of re- scouting and game preparation in addition to on-floor coaching. sponsibilities including game management, supervising and co- As video coordinator, Roberts was involved in game prepara- ordinating managerial staff, assisting with team travel and devel- oping and leading community service activities. tion, self scouting, game film breakdown and other administra- Marco Morcos begins his first season as director of basket- Vick’s prior basketball experience also includes experience tive duties. ball operations at Rice University. as both a head coach and assistant coach at the high school Prior to his two seasons in Berkeley, Roberts played at Morcos served in a similar position at UAB during the 2007- level. He also has a wealth of knowledge of the game with 15 Indiana, graduating in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in history 08 season. He was part of a Blazer team which posted a 23-11 years experience working collegiate basketball camps. record and advanced to the second round of the National Invita- with a certificate in management, then served one season as a Prior to joining the Oakland basketball staff, Vick coached tional Tournament. a season each at Smoky Mountain High School and Cherokee graduate assistant coach at Texas Tech. Prior to making the move to collegiate basketball, Morcos High School in North Carolina. He also spent time coaching with “Having played at Indiana and worked with at was a successful high school and AAU coach. a number of youth teams in the western North Carolina region. Texas Tech, Mike brings valuable experience to our program,” He was the head coach at LEAP Academy University Char- Vick has served as a coach at summer camps held at Cen- ter School in Camden, N.J., for three years (2004-07). LEAP Braun said. tral Michigan University, University of Dayton, Michigan State compiled a 102-20 record during Morcos’ three seasons. Beyond University, University of Wisconsin and Western Carolina Uni- As an undergraduate at Indiana, Roberts helped Indiana to wins and losses, Morcos’ teams had a 100 percent graduation versity. three NCAA Tournaments, including a national runner-up finish rate from the college preparatory school and maintained better Since 2004, he has also conducted the Mark Vick Cham- in 2002, as well as one NIT appearance. A two-time Academic than a 3.0 team grade average. pionship Basketball Camps each summer in his hometown of All-Big Ten honoree and recipient of a Big Ten Sportsmanship In just his second year, Morcos’ team was 27-6 and earned Houghton Lake, Mich. the No. 1 seed to the NJSIAA South Jersey playoffs. LEAP would Award, he served as team captain as a senior in 2004-05. Vick graduated from Central Michigan in 1999 with a bach- capture the South Jersey Sectional as well as win the Central elor’s degree in health fitness and promotion in preventive reha- At Texas Tech, Roberts aided the coaching staff in prac- Jersey championship. The team went on to finish as runners- bilitation. As an undergraduate, he was a student manager for tices, supervised academic progress of the players and was up at the state championship in 2006. Morcos’ suc- CMU’s basketball team. He went on to earn a master’s degree in an analyst for Texas Tech radio and television broadcasts. He cessful second year marked the fastest a coach had led a team sports administration from Florida State in 2002. to a state championship in New Jersey Scholastic history (two also participated in the 2006 ESPN production “Knight School,” years). in which the Texas Tech coaching staff evaluated 16 walk-ons Morcos’ 2007 team posted a 25-7 record and was ranked who vied for one spot on the Red Raiders’ roster. No. 7 in South Jersey in the final regional rankings by the Couri- In addition to receiving a bachelor’s degree from Indiana er-Post. Ryan Hennick in 2005, Roberts received a master’s degree in interdisciplinary Additionally, Morcos was the head coach at Rise Academy Events Coordinator where he led the team to a 31-8 record. studies from Texas Tech in 2006. Morcos has also run a nationally-competitive AAU program Roberts was married to the former the Janet Shewman and has been responsible for developing over 100 Division I and this past August. Division II players during his coaching career. He also coached 80 at the Rise Basketball Northeast Regional All-Star Game. 81 Morcos is also an assistant coach for the Egyptian National Team which has an opportunity to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Ryan Hennick begins his first season as events coordinator The team finished as runners-up at the 2006 Africa Cup of Na- for the Rice University basketball team. Hennick joins the Rice tions. staff from the where he served as a stu- His coaching experience also includes working as a coun- dent manager while an undergraduate and went on to serve as selor at the prestigious Reebok All-American Camp (RAAC). and administrative assistant to coaches Lute Olson and Kevin Morcos saw action in 33 games during a two-year playing O’Neill. career for Rutgers-Camden. He also played for the Egyptian Na- During his last year at Arizona, Hennick was the recruiting/ tional Team in both 2000 and 2004. program coordinator in addition to working with O’Neil. He was responsible for coordinating mail outs to recruits and maintaining a recruiting data base. Hennick’s responsibilities with the Arizona basketball pro- Mark Vick gram grew from the time he joined the Wildcat staff in 2003. In addition to managerial responsibilities he added recruiting and Video Coordinator administrative duties during his tenure. During the summer months over the past four years, Hen- nick gained valuable experience staffing and directing camps and tournaments. The past three years he served as tournament director as Mike well as a statistician and scorekeeper for the Arizona Cactus Classic AAU Tournament. He also spent three summers serving Mark Vick joins the Rice University staff as the basketball as assistant camp director of the Lute Olson Basketball Camp. program’s video coordinator after serving as Oakland University’s Hennick’s camp experience also stretches beyond the state video coordinator/administrative assistant the past four years. of Arizona’s borders. He served as co-camp director of the Nike Roberts During his tenure at Oakland University, Vick oversaw the Power Factory Basketball Camp held in Shenyang, China during Assistant Coach entire video program. He was responsible for creating compre- the summer of 2007. He was also an administrative assistant, Ri c e Co a c h i n g St a f f l Su p p o r t St a f f

coach and instructor at the famed Five-Star Basketball Camps State, working under current Rice University head strength and both in 2006 and 2008. conditioning coach, Yancy McKnight. Hennick earned a bachelor of arts degree in communica- McLafferty is a 2007 graduate of Louisiana Tech. tions from the University of Arizona in 2006.

Ron Mears Nathan Peck Assistant Sports Information Director Athletic Trainer Basketball Contact

Ron Mears is in his first year as a member of the Rice Uni- Nathan Peck, MS, ATC, CSCS begins his third year as a versity sports information office. Among his responsibilities are member of the Rice University sports medicine staff and his sec- publicizing the men’s basketball and golf programs. ond working with the Rice basketball program. Mears brings a wealth of media relations experience to Rice In his first year, Peck served as the athletic trainer for the including the previous three-plus years as director of athletic 2007 Rice Owl baseball team which advanced to the College media relations at Texas State University. During his final foot- World Series. ball season, Mears coordinated publicity for both a Walter Camp Additionally, he works with the Rice football program. The First-Team All-America selection as well as the university’s first past two summers, Peck has worked with the Houston Rock- National Football Foundation Draddy Award Finalist. ets’ athletic training staff and this past summer served as the In 2005, he led the publicity efforts for Texas State’s South- host athletic trainer for the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) land Conference football championship team as the team ad- rookie all-star team. vanced to the NCAA I-AA national semifinals. Peck earned a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Prior to joining the Texas State staff, Mears was the primary Northeastern University in 1998 and a master’s degree in sports contact for men’s basketball at the University of Memphis. He medicine from Long Beach State in 2006. While attending gradu- also served as the director of sports information for 10 years at ate school at Long Beach State, Peck covered baseball and was Nicholls State. a strength and conditioning coach for local high school and col- While at Memphis, Mears was the publicist for the 2002 Na- legiate athletes. tional Invitation Tournament champions. In addition to working Prior to attending Long Beach State, the Biddeford, Maine with the U of M’s basketball program, he also assisted with media native, worked as an athletic trainer in minor league baseball for relations for the Tiger football program as well as other assigned four seasons. He worked in the Boston Red Sox organization for responsibilities. one season (2000) and in the Seattle Mariners organization for During his tenure, the Memphis basketball media guide was three seasons (2001-03). He also spent the 2003 winter league annually ranked among the top 15 in Division I basketball ac- season as the athletic trainer for the Cardenales de Lara of the cording to publication contests conducted by the College Sports Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Information Directors of America. The publication grew from 182 Peck is a certified member of the National Athletic Trainers pages prior to Mears’ arrival to 242 pages his final year. Association, National Strength and Conditioning Association and A 1986 graduate of Oklahoma State University, Mears was 82 The Texas State Athletic Trainers Association. named Nicholls State’s SID in 1988 and received additional re- sponsibilities as the Assistant Director of University Relations in 1991. While at Nicholls State, Mears was involved with the Louisi- Scott McLafferty ana Sports Writers Association, coordinating the LSWA’s basket- ball player of the week program for five years as well as various Assistant Coordinator LSWA all-Louisiana teams. He served a two-year term as the Strength & Conditioning LSWA’s treasurer. He has served on the media relations staff of NCAA bas- ketball regionals each of the past three years, working both the NCAA Houston Regional and the NCAA Final Four in 2008. Mears is married to the former Ann Treviño, a Rice graduate from Sid Richardson College. The couple have a son, Cooper Scott McLafferty is in his second season on South Main af- McCrae, born in July. ter joining the Rice University strength and conditioning staff on March 5, 2007. McLafferty’s responsibilities include serving as the primary Gaelyn Sicher- strength and conditioning coach for the Rice men’s basketball Ford team. He also works with men’s and women’s tennis, swimming and assists with football. Adam Gierlach The Stillwater, Okla., native came to Rice from Louisiana Tech where he worked with the football, soccer and softball pro- Equipment grams his first season at Tech before assuming duties as the Managers men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach his last two years. McLafferty also served as a student assistant at Oklahoma Miami, Fla. Moraga, Calif. Miami Sunset Senior HS Moorestown HS Will Rice College Wiess College