Darren French has been promoted to associate head coach of Cal State LA’s men’s basketball program, head coach Jim Saia announced. French is entering his second season with the Golden Eagles.
“I’m really excited for Coach French to get this promotion that he definitely deserves,” Saia said.
The Golden Eagles are coming off one of their most successful seasons in many years. Cal State LA won 18 games last year – its most since the 1999-2000 season – and reached the semi-finals of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament for the third time in the program’s history.
“He’s one of the best assistant coaches in the country – at any level,” Saia said. “He is a tireless worker and brings great intensity to our program.”
French came to Cal State LA after four years as an assistant coach at East LA College. In his four seasons there, the Huskies compiled a 95-28 record, three consecutive Elite Eight appearances and back-to-back South Coast Conference titles.
In French’s first year with the program, the Huskies entered the CCCAA State Tournament as the No. 13 seed, won five straight games, and advanced to the program’s first-ever championship game.
He also has extensive CCAA experience. He was an assistant coach at Cal State East Bay from 2010-13 and recruited conference Freshman of the Year Jacari Whitfield. He was also an assistant coach at Cal State San Bernardino from 2006-08 and helped the Coyotes to their first-ever Division II Final Four appearance in 2007 and a conference title in 2008.
He also coached for one season at Howard College under legendary coach Mark Adams, who is now the associate head coach at Texas Tech. He began his coaching career at the University of Oregon, where he helped the team to a third-place finish in the Pac-10 and an NCAA tournament bid in 1999-2000.
He also had coaching stops at Ventura College, UC Riverside, Tyler Junior College and Colorado Northwestern Community College, where he was the head coach for one year before joining the staff at Cal State San Bernardino.
https://lagoldeneagles.com/news/2019/10/23/darren-french-earns-mens-basketball-promotion.aspx
