SACRAMENTO STATE NAMES BRIAN KATZ HEAD MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH

4/10/2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Brian Katz was named the head men’s basketball coach at Sacramento State, it was announced today by Director of Athletics Terry Wanless. Katz becomes the 13th men’s basketball coach in school history.

A graduate of Sacramento State and a native of Sacramento, Katz’s extensive basketball resumé includes a 32-year career as a basketball coach at the NCAA Div. I, junior college and high school levels. Prior to joining the Hornets, he spent the past 15 seasons as head coach at San Joaquin Delta College (1993-2008) in Stockton, where he posted a 348-138 record (.716 winning percentage) and led the team to 14 playoff appearances, six conference championships, three Elite Eight appearances, and one Final Four appearance.

A six-time conference coach of the year at Delta College, Katz has guided the team to three conference championships over the last four years and a 108-26 overall record during that span.

“We selected Brian because he fits the four strengths we were looking for in a new coach,” Wanless said. “He is a strong recruiter, a very good teacher of the game, he develops his players on and off the court, and he will connect the basketball program with the community. He has great ties to Sacramento, and that is very important to our program.

“We had three very impressive candidates, and conducted an extensive search with over 100 applicants. The screening committee did a great job providing us with three exceptional candidates.”

Katz’s Delta teams have won at least 22 games 11 times in the last 12 seasons, including a 27-6 overall record and a 12-2 mark in the Big 8 Conference last year. In addition, at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, of the 108 players that came through the Delta program, 101 of them had advanced to four-year institutions – 62 on scholarships.

Prior to his tenure at Delta College, Katz spent four years (1989-93) at Lassen College in Susanville, Calif., where he led the team to an 87-47 record, four playoff appearances and a league championship. One of those playoff appearances came in 1992 when he led the team to the Elite Eight despite the school having just 800 students. He was also an assistant under Carroll Williams at Santa Clara where the team reached the NIT both seasons during his two-year stay (1987-89).

Previous to his stint with Santa Clara, Katz was the head coach at Antelope’s Center High School (1983-87) where he led the team to a four-year combined record of 53-34, including three Sac-Joaquin Section playoff appearances and one league championship. He began his head coaching career as the varsity coach at Orangevale’s Casa Roble High School in 1982-83.

Katz earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Sacramento State in 1980, and his master’s degree in counseling psychology from Santa Clara in 1989.