April 9, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara head men's basketball coach Kerry Keating announced his new coaching staff at a press conference Monday afternoon, naming Sam Scuilli, Sam Scholl, and Lamont Smith as his assistant coaches. All three men bring a wealth of West Coast Conference coaching experience to the program, with a combined 30 years of experience as players and coaches in the WCC.
"My assistant coaches are winners, they know what it takes, they've done it in other places, and they understand this conference," Keating said of his coaching staff. "Three of the last four teams to challenge for an NCAA bid from this conference have been Santa Clara, San Diego, and Saint Mary's, and I have three guys from those staffs. They have been coaching in this conference for 24 years collectively and been part of 395 wins, and I think that's really, really important."
One of the bright young assistant coaches on the West Coast, Scuilli, 35, has spent a combined 11 seasons on the Mission Campus over two tours of duty. He has spent the past seven seasons as an assistant coach on Dick Davey's staff, and prior to that spent four seasons (1994-98) as a graduate assistant coach with the Broncos. Scuilli then spent two seasons as an assistant at Portland State before returning to Santa Clara in 2000.
His duties with the Broncos focused primarily on the program's defensive game plan as well as a number of areas related to scouting, recruiting and player development.
He is an active coach and counselor at numerous summer basketball camps throughout the country. A native of Short Hills, N.J., Scuilli earned a degree in Public Policy from Stanford in 1994. He received a MBA from Santa Clara in 1997.
Scholl, 29, spent the past seven seasons as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego, his alma mater, on the staff of former Torero head coach Brad Holland. At San Diego, Scholl worked closely with the guards, in addition to his roles with recruiting, scouting, academic support, and USD's Elite Camp. He also played an integral role in the recruitment of sixteen Torero players, including four first-team All-WCC performers, one WCC newcomer of the Year, and a pair of WCC All-Freshman Team players.
The Toreros' lone senior on the team's 20-9 squad from 1999-2000, Scholl played guard for San Diego for two seasons. Prior to USD, he played two seasons at Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Washington.
A native of Gig Harbor, Washington, Scholl completed his undergraduate degree in Sociology at the University of San Diego in 2001.
Smith, 31, spent the past six seasons as an assistant on the staff of Randy Bennett at Saint Mary's College. With the Gaels, Smith's duties included working with the post players, assisting with the strength and conditioning program, recruiting, and scouting.
Smith, a native of The Colony, Texas, returned to the West Coast Conference in 2001 after spending two years as the graduate assistant coach at Saint Louis University. Smith began his coaching career under the tutelage of Lorenzo Romar at Saint Louis. During his time there, Smith was an assistant coach on the same staff as Saint Mary's head coach Randy Bennett, who brought Smith with him to Saint Mary's when he took the head job there in 2001. Smith's duties with the Billikens included coordinating the team's video editing and film exchange, while assisting with team recruiting, scouting and strength and conditioning programs.
Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of San Diego in 1998 and was a member of the men's basketball team from 1994-99. He was named the Toreros' Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 and 1999 and served as the team captain from 1997-99.
