SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Toriano Towns enters his first season as an assistant coach at Santa Clara in 2014-15. He spent the last five seasons as associate head coach for Southern Utah. Towns served as SUU's recruiting and defensive coordinator, assisted with the planning of practice sessions, conditioning, scouting, and also worked with the Thunderbird post players.
"I'm extremely excited to be apart of the Bronco Athletic family and this incredible institution," said Towns. "I believe the marriage between world class athletics and world class academics provides an endless amount of possibilities to attract some of the best and brightest student athletes in the world. I'm confident our staff will work tirelessly to add to the rich tradition that is Santa Clara women's basketball."
"Toriano is going to be a huge asset to our Bronco family," said Santa Clara head coach JR Payne. "He is hands down the most passionate and competitive coach that I've ever worked with and I know that he will bring an incredible amount of energy to the program."
During his first four seasons with the Thunderbirds, Towns helped forward Challis Pascucci develop into one of the premiere low post players in the Summit League. After the 2009-10 season Pascucci earned All-Summit League second team honors after leading the conference in rebounding and tied for the lead in blocked shots. She also set the SUU single-season record for total rebounds with 291 and her 46 blocks were the fifth most in SUU single-season history. Pascucci earned a spot on the All-Summit League first team after finishing third in the conference in scoring (17.7 PPG), second in rebounding (9.7 RPG) and sixth in blocks (23). Pascucci finished the 2011 season as the Thunderbirds all-time leader in career rebounds (929) and fourth in scoring (1,328).
Towns joined Southern Utah after spending four years at Boise State University as the Broncos defensive coordinator. During his time at BSU, the Broncos won back-to-back Western Athletic Conference championships, earned a trip to the NCAA tournament, advanced to the second round of the WNIT tournament, had a pair of First Team All-WAC guards and set numerous offensive and defensive school records.
Prior to Boise State, Towns spent one season as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona, helping the Wildcats record a 20-win season and a post a first round NCAA Tournament victory against the University of Oklahoma. Towns played a major role in recruiting and scouting at Arizona. He worked with the Wildcat post players, assisting with the development of Shawntinice Polk who became one of the country's most decorated post players being named to the Kodak/WBCA All-American team, first-team All-Pac-10 team, and Kodak/WBCA all-Region 8 team.
Towns' coaching career began at Gonzaga University where he served as an assistant for three seasons. At Gonzaga, Towns was responsible for post player development, where he coached five All-West Coast Conference performers along with holding responsibility for scouting and game preparation. He also served as the co-recruiting coordinator for the Bulldogs. During his time at Gonzaga, he helped orchestrate the second-best turnaround in WCC history as the Bulldogs went from eighth in 2002-03 to second place in 2003-04, posting an 18-12 overall record. That team advanced to its second-ever Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
Towns earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Saint Mary's College in 1998 and his Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University.
Tomorrow meet assistant coach Shandrika Lee.