Warner Head Men’s Basketball coach Sean Hanrahan has announced one of his biggest off season moves where he has named Matt Warren Associate Head Coach.
Matt Warren enters his fourth season with the Royals. The difference, this upcoming season he will be serving as the Associate Head Coach. Warren has served as assistant coach for the last three season and has done an incredible job.
Royals head coach Sean Hanrahan said, “There is a huge responsibility on any head coach or lead supervisor, to apply the best decision-making skills to every situation. In Coach Warren’s case, he has an uncanny ability to recall conversations, almost verbatim, and to use this recall of past experiences to explore and find the most positive outcome for each student-athlete and the University. I have seen his process so many times as the Head JV Coach at Warner University and as the Varsity top assistant.”
In his third season with the Royals, Coach Warren continued to add value to and make an impact on the program while the Royals collected their sixth consecutive 20-win season. The Royals hunkered down defensively to finish the season on a four-game winning streak. Warren was instrumental in the implementation of the Royals new pressure defense that saw them get off to a 13-3 start to the season. The injury bug was unkind in 2019-2020 which slowed the fast start and national statistically rankings including being number 1 in scoring offense, total assists and total steals. They were also in the top 5 nationally in points per game and field goal percentage through the first month of the 2019-20 season. The Royals added 3 more student athletes to the Sun Conference team including Max Benoit, DJ Mercer and Rod Boggan.
Hanrahan said, “When I think of all the qualifications and knowledge it takes to be a head collegiate coach, the answer that is hard to see is: how will he lead when times are tough and answers are hard to find? After spending countless days and hours over the last 3 years with Coach Warren, I have seen him, time and time again, follow his Christian faith and approach these situations with love, discipline and resolve.”
Warren led the recruitment for the first team all TSC senior guard from Jacksonville, Max Benoit. Benoit averaged 18.1 ppg alongside 3.7 rpg, while shooting 47% from the floor and 39% from the three point line. The reigning freshman of the year, DJ Mercer, landed himself on the second team all TSC for the second straight season. Mercer tallied 13 ppg and 3 apg is his second season for the Royals. Mercer enters his junior season 215 points shy of 1,000 career points. Warren recruited DJ Mercer out of Cambridge Christian School in Tampa, Florida. Warren was vital to the speedy development of freshman guard Rod Boggan. The Lakeland native had a terrific freshman campaign including starting the last six games of the year. In those games, Boggan averaged 14 ppg and 3.8 rpg.
In his second season with the Royals, Coach Warren helped guide the Royals to the first Sun Conference regular season title in over 15 years. The Royals finished with a record of 14-4 in the TSC and swept the postseason awards with Trae Graham finishing as Player of the Year, DJ Mercer as Freshman of the Year and Sean Hanrahan as Coach of the Year. Warren was instrumental in the recruitment of both Graham and Mercer. Graham, who played AAU for Warren growing up, was also a second team All American and was selected for the NAIA all-star game in Kansas City. Graham posted 17.5 ppg with 8.7 rpg while shooting over 56% from the floor. Graham was in the top 40 in six different individual categories. Mercer had one of the best freshmen seasons the Royals have seen in a long time. The second team all-conference selection posted a 12 ppg and 3.7 apg while shooting 38% from three point range and 83% from the charity stripe. This resulted in a second 20 plus win season for Warren and a trip to the NAIA National Tournament in Sioux Falls, SD.
In his first season with the Royals, Coach Warren was involved in all aspects of the program. His main responsibilities included scouting reports, game and practice planning and recruiting. The Royals won 20 games in his first season on staff as the program went through a transitional year with the graduation of the national player of the year the prior season. Coach Warren hit the recruiting trail hard as he was heavily involved in bringing in eight new players for this year’s team.
Warren joined the Royals after serving as the General Manager of Combine Academy of Orlando, Fla., a post graduate basketball academy. While at Combine Academy, Coach Warren sent a majority of his student athletes to college during his year in Orlando in conjunction with his prior year in Charlotte, NC at Combine’s headquarters. Coach Warren also was heavily involved in Pro training during his summers at Combine including multiple NBA players and numerous Euro League players.
Prior to Combine, Coach Warren was the top assistant at Indian River State College, a division one junior college in Fort Pierce, Florida, which was his second stint at IRSC. Warren worked for Coach Joe Sanchez at IRSC on two different occasions which included a 24-7 record and a trip to the region 8 tournament after a Southern Conference tournament championship.
Prior to his return to IRSC, Warren was a student manager at the University of North Florida under the tutelage of Head Coach Matthew Driscoll for two seasons where he gained a plethora of knowledge and experience. At UNF, Warren was able to learn a vast amount of skills at the NCAA D-I level including video editing, player development, game preparation/scouting, academics and the day-to-day operations.
Coach Warren also has experience in the AAU circuit as an assistant coach for PrimeTime basketball that in a four-year stretch accumulated 8 tournament championships and a runner up spot at the prestige Peach State tournament.
“A coach should only move to Associate Head Coach when he is ready for the responsibilities of the Head Coach. That is why I called and requested from our Athletic Director, John Dunlap, and our President, Dr. Hoag, for Matt Warren to be elevated to Associate Head Coach. Both agreed and now I want to congratulate Associate Head Coach Matt Warren“, said Hanrahan.
Warren graduated from the University of North Florida in 2014 with a degree in Sport Management along with an Associate of Arts degree from Indian River State College. Coach Warren just recently completed his Masters of Science from Warner University in the fall of 2019. Matt is set to get married in May of 2020 to his fiancee, Caitlin.
Matt Warren Promoted To Associate Head Coach at Warner University
