Former Rainer Beach High School and Washington State University standout player Mike Ladd has been hired as an assistant coach at Seattle Pacific University, first-year men’s basketball head coach Grant Leep announced Thursday.
Ladd, 26, has been involved with education and youth basketball coaching in the Seattle area since graduating from Washington State in 2013. He was the assistant boy’s basketball coach at Cleveland High School last year.
“Mike comes to SPU with a depth of experiences that will help our basketball program in a number of ways,” Leep said. “He has strong connections to basketball in the Northwest, he is passionate about player development, and due to his playing and coaching background he becomes a valuable addition to our staff and program.
“Mike is a hard worker and is dedicated to becoming a great coach. I could not be more excited to welcome Mike to SPU and the men’s basketball program.”
Ladd is the second assistant hired by Leep, who was promoted to the SPU head coaching post on May 9 after serving as an assistant for seven years. Kegan Bone was hired as a Falcons assistant on June 1 after working on the Western Oregon coaching staff in 2015-16.
A prep star at Rainier Beach in Seattle, Ladd averaged 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists as a senior in 2008. He received the Most Valuable Player award of the tournament after leading the Vikings to the state Class 3A tournament championship.
Ladd played two years at Fresno State before transferring to WSU for his junior and senior seasons.
As a freshman at Fresno, Ladd started 15 games while scoring at a 9.5-point clip. He drew 29 starts during his sophomore season, scoring 10.3 points per game while leading the Bulldogs in 3-pointers (66) and 3-point accuracy (38.1%).
Ladd transferred to Washington State and sat out the 2011 campaign as a red-shirt before participating in 26 games in 2012. He started once and averaged 5.4 points per game.
As a senior in 2013, Ladd started 26 games for the Cougars. He finished third on the team in both scoring (10.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg).
At WSU, Ladd played for Coach Ken Bone, the uncle of current SPU assistant Keagan Bone.
After college, Ladd served as an instructional assistant with the Seattle School District. During the summer of 2014, he taught second and third graders in Chicago for the Teach for America program.
Ladd’s coaching career began with the Seattle Rotary club program and he coached in 2014 at Seattle’s Aki Kurose Middle School, where he attended as a youth.
Most recently, Ladd was an assistant under Coach Jerry Petty at Cleveland. He helped guide the Eagles to a 23-8 record, their first winning season since 2008, and an appearance at the state Class 3A tournament.
Ladd and his wife, Sherese, have two children and are expecting another in November. Their daughter, Lauren, is 3-years-old and son, Kyrie, is 1.
His grandfather, Gary Ladd Sr., was inducted into the Seattle University hall of fame and was a 1972 NBA draft pick by the Seattle Supersonics.
http://www.spufalcons.com/news/2016/8/11/mens-basketball-falcons-hire-mike-ladd-as-assistant-coach.aspx
