老司机福利网

Four new assistant coaches have joined 老司机福利网 from around the United States and Canada to work with head coach Dave Smart as he ushers in a new era of men鈥檚 basketball.

Smart, widely regarded as the most successful Canadian college basketball coach of all time, was named head coach in March. He has since announced the hires of Clay Wilson, Craig Beaucamp, Garrett Bridges and Myke Scholl as assistant coaches.

Clay Wilson

Smart spent last season as assistant coach at Texas Tech where he worked closely with Wilson, who served as Director of Player Development. The two were tasked with concentrating on the offense and helped the Red Raiders advance to the NCAA Tournament with a 23-11 record.

鈥淐oach Smart and I got to know each other well at Texas Tech with all the hours we spent working on offensive principles and scouting other teams,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淥ur offices were next to each other, and we spent so much time together that we joked about knocking the wall down between us.鈥�

After Smart accepted the head coach position, Wilson was immediately drawn to Pacific, not only for the opportunity to continue coaching alongside Smart but also for the Ivy League feel.

鈥淭he campus reminds me a lot of my alma mater Princeton. We have the same school colors with the orange and black, the same mascot with the Tigers and the campus itself has brick buildings and shade with the trees,鈥� Wilson said.

鈥淭here are similarities, and when my mom and brother came to visit here, they actually said the same thing. Even some of the facilities like the softball field look almost identical to Princeton鈥檚.鈥�

Craig Beaucamp

Beaucamp, a fellow Canadian coach, also has a strong relationship with Smart, coaching with and against him. He has spent the last 21 seasons as coach of the basketball program at the University of Victoria.

鈥淚n the 80 or so games I coached against him, we always kept a close professional relationship, and we always held a high level of respect toward each other,鈥� Beaucamp said. 鈥淚鈥檝e gotten to know his family well over the many years, and he鈥檚 gotten to know my family as well.

鈥淭here were times when I鈥檇 stay at his house for weeks when we were coaching together on Team Canada. We were very like-minded and always enjoyed the time we had together.鈥�

Like Wilson, Beaucamp saw an immediate appeal for himself at Pacific when Smart joined the Tigers.

鈥淐oaching together in America was something Coach Smart and I talked about years ago. We didn鈥檛 know if it would happen, but we always wanted to coach at the highest level of college basketball, and it doesn鈥檛 get any higher than NCAA Division I. It鈥檚 the best college basketball in the world,鈥� Beaucamp said, adding that being on the west coast was also a big draw.

鈥淚 can hop on a 90-minute flight to Vancouver, remain in the same time zone and stay close to my family, which is still in Victoria,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have just gone anywhere in the country to coach, but Pacific felt like the perfect opportunity for me.鈥�

Garrett Bridges

Bridges comes to Pacific from North Carolina where he spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at North Carolina Central University. Prior to that he served as a graduate assistant at the University of Houston.

A mentor of Bridges from Houston (assistant coach K.C. Beard) helped connect him with Smart.

鈥淏efore this year鈥檚 Final Four, I got a call from Coach Beard saying a good friend of his got the head coaching job at Pacific and he could help me at least have a conversation with him,鈥� Bridges said. 鈥淚 ended up meeting Coach Smart and Coach Wilson at the Final Four and had great talks with them.鈥�

After learning more about Smart from Beard and University of Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson, Bridges said he couldn鈥檛 pass up the opportunity.

鈥淭he way they spoke about him, and the trust that I had in my own mentors made it an easy decision for me,鈥� Bridges said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about working at Pacific on this beautiful campus and coaching in the West Coast Conference. It鈥檚 a multi-bid league into the NCAA Tournament and it鈥檚 only getting stronger, especially with Washington State and Oregon State coming in.鈥�

Myke Scholl

Similar to Bridges, Scholl met Smart and Wilson at the Final Four. Scholl, a Sacramento native, spent the last 16 seasons coaching Division I basketball in California with the last 10 at Long Beach State and the previous six at Loyola Marymount University.

鈥淚鈥檝e always been very familiar with Pacific and had a lot of friends from high school who attended here. My close friend Willie Tatum played basketball here, and I crossed paths with Pacific in the Big West and West Coast Conferences as a former student-athlete at Sacramento State. I also coached against Pacific when I was at LMU,鈥� Scholl said.

After the 2023-24 season, Scholl received offers from other schools and had an NBA opportunity but wanted to stay in California. The chance to work with Smart was a key reason.

鈥淲hen Coach Smart was looking for someone for my position, he was looking for a California guy and his contacts referred him to me,鈥� Scholl said. 鈥淓veryone I talked with sang praises about Coach Smart, and after a month or two of working with him, I can see why. His creativity and knowledge of the game made this a no-brainer.鈥�

Scholl said the basketball staff has already created a strong bond.

鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a 鈥榞o your separate ways鈥� staff. We鈥檙e with each other all the time, we鈥檝e eaten nearly every meal together and we鈥檙e staying together until the job gets done,鈥� Scholl said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e here to win ball games, and we鈥檙e all very excited for the upcoming season.鈥�

The team will host the season opener at the Alex G. Spanos Center Monday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.