Mike Holmes/Sports Communications
ATLANTA-Georgia State head coach Rob Lanier announced the first two assistant coaches on his staff on Monday with the additions of Chris Kreider and Cliff Warren.
Kreider, a coaching veteran with more than 17 years of experience at five different levels comes to Georgia State following a two-year stint at Rice. Warren joins the Panthers following two years at Massachusetts and has nearly a decade of Division I head coach experience.
Both assistants have deep ties to Atlanta as each held stints at Georgia Tech.
“I don’t know if I could have found two better assistants in Chris and Cliff,” Lanier said. “I have gotten to know Chris over the last couple of seasons as he recruited my son to play for him at Rice. I have seen what kind of man and coach he is during that time. He shares the same values that I have, and I think that is extremely important in a coaching staff.
“Cliff and I go back to our collegiate playing days. He has a wealth of knowledge on and off the basketball court and is well respected throughout our profession. He has been successful as both a head coach and assistant coach at all levels of the game.”
While at Rice, Kreider helped recruit a pair of top-five recruiting classes in Conference USA. The 2019 class was tabbed the third-best recruiting class in CUSA, while the 2018 class was picked fourth by the platform. Following his inaugural collegiate season in 2018-19, guard Chris Mullins was named to the CUSA All-Freshman Team by both the league’s head coaches and media.
Additionally, eight Owls were named to the CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll in each of his two seasons on staff.
Prior to his tenure at Rice, Kreider spent two seasons at Virginia Military Institute, serving as the recruiting coordinator and post coach.
Kreider’s career also includes four seasons at George Mason, where he helped the Patriots to a pair of 20-plus win seasons and a postseason appearance in the College Basketball Invitational in 2011-12. The Patriots capped the postseason run in the championship series against Santa Clara. Kreider also helped Mason to the CAA Tournament semifinals his first two seasons before the university transitioned to the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2012-13.
While with the Patriots, Kreider oversaw the signing of a pair of nationally-accredited recruiting classes as the recruiting coordinator. In 2011, the incoming class was ranked the No. 10 mid-major recruiting class by ESPN.com before the Patriots inked one of the top recruiting classes in the A-10 in 2014.
Kreider also held the role of recruiting coordinator during his two-year stay at Georgia Southern from 2009-11. Prior to his stop in Statesboro, Kreider served his first stint in Atlanta at Georgia Tech from 2007-09. While with the Yellow Jackets, he held positions as an administrative assistant and volunteer assistant coach.
From 2006-07, Kreider was an assistant coach at USC Aiken after working three years at St. Francis High School where he held head coaching positions for the men and women’s basketball teams (2003-04 assistant; 2004-05 women’s coach; 2005-06 men’s coach). He got his start in coaching as an assistant coach at the University of Great Falls in 2002-03.
A collegiate letterwinner, Kreider started as small forward at three colleges, playing one year at Mansfield University before transferring to Grove City College (Pa.). In his junior season, Kreider led the Wolverines in scoring (12.3 ppg) and steals (52). He finished his playing and academic career at Lebanon Valley College, earning a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish in 2003.
Prior to his stint at UMass, Warren was on the staff Maryland, where he spent three seasons split between roles as director of operations, director of player personnel and assistant coach. Over the 2014-17 campaigns, Warren helped the Terps collect 79 victories and earn three NCAA Tournament berths.
With coaching experience in the ACC, Atlantic Sun, MAAC and Northeast Conference, Warren’s wealth of basketball knowledge helped Maryland during its successful transition into the Big Ten, to the tune of a 38-16 (.704) conference record since the 2014-15 inaugural Big Ten campaign. Additionally, Warren was instrumental in developing five All-Big Ten performers, including all-American guard Melo Trimble.
The all-time winningest head coach in Jacksonville men’s basketball history, Warren spent nine seasons as the Dolphins’ program leader prior to his arrival in College Park. Warren accounted for 126 victories and led the Dolphins to a pair of Atlantic Sun Championships in 2009 and 2010. He was also named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year after the 2008-09 season.
A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, Warren completed five seasons as an assistant to Paul Hewitt at Georgia Tech, where he helped the Yellow Jackets win 96 games and make three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the school’s first-ever trip to the NCAA National Championship game in 2004.
Warren spent three successful years at Siena College under Hewitt, when the Saints went 66- 27, collected two postseason berths and tallied three straight appearances in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament Championship Game.
Warren began his coaching career at his alma mater, Mount St. Mary’s, under legendary program leader Jim Phelan. The Mountaineers reached their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 1995 during Warren’s tenure as an assistant coach and followed with a Northeast Conference regular season title and NIT berth in 1996.
Lanier is expected to announce his final assistant coach in the coming weeks to complete his staff.