The University of Alaska Fairbanks Department of Athletics and Alaska Nanooks men’s basketball head coach Frank Ostanik has announced the hiring of Jamayne Potts as the program’s newest assistant coach.
Potts arrives in Fairbanks with nearly two decades of coaching experience spanning the collegiate, high school, and club levels, including six seasons as a collegiate head coach at Warner Pacific University in Portland, Ore.
“I am thrilled to add Jamayne to our staff,” said Ostanik. “Jamayne is a connector. He has tremendous energy and is someone our players, staff, and community will genuinely appreciate and enjoy being around and working with. I told my players three weeks ago, my love for them is such that I would not settle for someone who wasn’t a quality human being that they would enjoy being around every day. With Jamayne, I know I was able to follow through on that promise.”
During his tenure at Warner Pacific, Potts guided the Knights through a period of growth and success. He helped the program achieve an 18-10 overall record and a 15-7 conference mark during the 2022-23 season, finishing third in the conference after being picked ninth in the preseason poll. The Knights hosted their first conference playoff game in seven years and advanced to multiple conference tournament appearances during his time at the helm.
Under Potts’ leadership, student-athletes excelled both on the court and in the classroom. Warner Pacific earned 17 Academic All-Conference selections, produced five First Team All-Conference honorees, and saw its team GPA rise from 2.4 to 3.43. He also coached two 1,000-point scorers and helped develop a conference Newcomer of the Year.
In addition to his head coaching duties, Potts served as Warner Pacific’s Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance, overseeing student-athlete eligibility, advising coaches and student-athletes on compliance matters, coordinating internal processes, and assisting with department operations. Prior to Warner Pacific, Potts spent the 2019-20 season as an assistant coach at Lake Forest College, helping lead the Foresters to a Midwest Conference semifinal appearance while coaching multiple all-conference and academic honorees.
Potts also brings an extensive background in player development. As head coach of the Basketball Training Institute’s 17U program from 2012-19, he helped numerous student-athletes advance to the collegiate level, including 15 future NCAA Division I players, 14 NCAA Division II players and 11 NCAA Division III players. Among the athletes he coached during that time was future Heisman Trophy winner and current NFL quarterback Bryce Young.
His previous coaching stops include head coaching positions at Village Christian School and Burbank High School in California. At Burbank, Potts earned Coach of the Year honors in 2017 after leading the Bulldogs to a school-record 25-win season, a Southern Section Championship game appearance, and a state regional semifinal appearance. Potts began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach at Caltech University, where he helped mentor multiple all-conference performers, academic standouts, and the program’s all-time leading scorer.
“It was really important to find someone who had been a head coach and wants to be a head coach again,” added Ostanik. “Having someone who has called their own timeouts and spent time trying to figure out how to win games from a strategy standpoint was really important to me. I am also excited to have someone who embraces not only Fairbanks, but the work and the challenges of coaching at the University of Alaska. I believe success is about mindset and having someone who sees advantages, where others see disadvantages. Jamayne is that type of guy. I’m excited to get to work.”
Potts earned an MBA in Business Administration from the University of the People in 2022 after receiving his bachelor’s degree in business management from Bethany University. Potts also holds an associate degree in physical education from Bakersfield College.
