After years of effort, toil and passion, Jase Coburn‘s lifelong dream – to be a college basketball head coach – has come true. Portland State Athletics has named Coburn as its new men’s basketball coach. The announcement was made Friday by Director of Athletics Valerie Cleary.
Coburn has been the Associate Head Coach of the Viking program since 2018 and has been at PSU for eight years. He was named interim Head Coach on April 6, following the departure of former coach Barret Peery to Texas Tech.
“In his eight years at Portland State University, Coach Coburn has recruited some of the best talent to our men’s basketball program,” Cleary said. “He has proven himself to be an outstanding coach, recruiter, and department colleague. After a very competitive national search, there was no doubt that Coach Coburn exemplified what we were looking for for the next era of Viking Basketball.”
Coburn takes over the Viking program as the 14th head coach in its 60-year playing history, and seventh since Portland State joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97. His experience prior to coming to PSU in 2013 includes coaching stops on the high school and junior college levels.
“I’m extremely ecstatic. This is a dream come true for me and my family,” said Coburn. “It has been a goal of mine to be the head coach at Portland State. I appreciate the support of our administration, our athletic staff and coaches, the university, our current and former players. It really means the world to me.
“I’ve worked my whole life to get to this point right now. And to be here is a dream come true.”
Coburn has played an instrumental role in recruiting at Portland State, particularly with the addition of top scorers DaShaun Wiggins and Cameron Forte, top transfer Calaen Robinson and many other Arizona prospects including PSU’s all-time leader in assists and steals, Holland Woods.
Prior to coming to Portland State, Coburn gained a wealth of coaching experience. Though only 37, he has been coaching for 18 years, including a dozen years at the junior college and Division I levels. He was an assistant at Howard (TX) Junior College. Howard went 53-14 over the two seasons he was there, winning an NJCAA Region 5 Championship and reaching the NJCAA National Tournament final eight. Howard was a top-10 ranked program those two seasons.
Coburn was the Head Coach at McClintock High School in Tempe, AZ from 2007 to 2011. At 23, he was one of the youngest head coaches ever to be hired in Arizona, and by 26 had led the team to a state title. Coburn’s 2009-10 team won the 4A state championship, and two other times his teams reached the quarterfinals. He was the consensus Arizona 4A Coach of the Year in 2009-10. Overall, his teams compiled a 74-39 record.
Coburn was an assistant coach at Phoenix College from 2005 to 2007 when the team twice reached the national tournament. He spent one season as an assistant coach at Corona del Sol (AZ) HS in 2004-05. He has also coached AAU basketball (Arizona Rage, 2003-07; and Compton Magic, 2011).
A native of Mesa, AZ, Coburn played basketball at Mesquite High School and MiraCosta College. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education-History from Arizona State (2006). He is married to the former Lindsay Meiggs, and they have an infant son, Kyler.
The announcement comes on the same day as the hiring of Chelsey Gregg as women’s basketball coach. She was formerly the Associate Head Coach for Vikings women’s basketball.
“What I love about Portland State Athletics is our true family atmosphere. We are not just committed to what is happening on the court, but the overall development of our student-athletes, coaches, and staff. There is no greater testament than when you can retain high-character, dedicated and qualified coaches and staff,” Cleary said.
https://goviks.com/news/2021/4/16/jase-coburn-named-new-vikings-mens-basketball-coach.aspx
