David Gale has been named Associate to the head coach/Director of Basketball Strategy for Georgia Basketball, head coach Tom Crean announced.
Gale brings with him an impressive wealth of professional basketball experience both in the United States and Europe. After working with three NBA franchises for more than a decade, Gale has spent the past three seasons coaching in Europe.
“We are all extremely excited to welcome David our Georgia program,” Crean said. “He brings an incredible amount basketball acumen and experience to our staff. Beyond that, he comes highly recommended by some of the best basketball minds. His passion for the game and for player development is what originally attracted us to him. He is someone you can dissect the game with on so many levels, and I know he will make an impact on our program and our players on a daily basis.”
“I am thrilled to be joining the UGA family and working with Coach Crean,” Gale said. “Having spent the last 14 years in the NBA and Europe, and coached multiple players who have played for Coach Crean, I already feel like I know what he’s all about. With his vast experience and history of winning and developing pro’s everywhere he’s been, I look forward to learning from him daily. I’m excited to be jumping into the college game and contributing to something special here at Georgia.”
Gale was the head coach of BC Nevezis Opibet in Lithuania’s Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL) for the 2021-21 campaign after spending two seasons in Germany coaching two teams within the MHP Riesen organization. He served as an assistant coach for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), helping the franchise to a second place finish in 2020 and a runner-up showing in the BBL Tournament. From 2018-20, Gale also was the head coach for Porsche BBA, the organization’s team competing in Germany’s NBBL for under-19 teams. He led Porsche BBA to the German Championship in 2020 and was named NBBL Coach of the Year and Coach of the Year by Eurobasket.com.
Gale established a championship pedigree before his success in Germany. He began his career in professional basketball an assistant video coordinator for the Los Angeles Clippers from 2007-11. Gale then worked with the Toronto Raptors from 2011-17, first serving as a video coordinator and player development bench coach for four seasons before becoming an assistant coach and the offensive coordinator for Raptors 905, the franchise’s D League team, from 2015-17. During Gale’s second season with Raptors 905 the team captured the 2017 D League Championship. He spent the following season as an assistant coach and the defensive coordinator for the Delaware 87ers, the Philadelphia 76ers D League squad.
A native of Sherman Oaks, Calif., Gale was a four-year letterwinner at Loyola-Chicago from 2003-07 and helped the Ramblers reached the Horizon League Tournament semifinals during his junior and senior seasons.
Gale named Associate to the Head Coach/Director of Basketball Strategy at Georgia
