Cal Riverside Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Tamica Smith Jones announced that Associate Men’s Basketball Head Coach Mike Magpayo will lead the Highlanders program going forward following the announcement that Head Coach David Patrick accepted the Associate Head Men’s Basketball coaching position at the University of Arkansas, a move that provides Patrick with a return to the SEC and the opportunity to be closer to family in the South. (More on that move HERE).
Magapyo was the defensive coordinator and architect of the UC Riverside defense that finished in top-10 nationally and tied the program’s DI record for wins (17) in the 2019-20 season. He was also named one of Silver Waves Media’s “Top 50 Most Impactful Low Major Coaches”. Last month Magpayo was rewarded with the promotion to Associate Head Coach.
“I am honored, humbled, and absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to lead our University of California Riverside Men’s Basketball program into the future,” said Magpayo. “I want to thank AD Tamica Smith Jones and Chancellor Kim Wilcox for this incredible opportunity. Most of all, I am eternally grateful to Coach David Patrick, a true leader, a role-model like no other, and a friend.”
“Over the last two years, Coach Patrick rapidly built a winning program here at UC Riverside,” Magpayo added. “We operate with a high-performance mindset and Coach Patrick and our staff have recruited an elite group of student-athletes. Our student-athletes tied a record for wins last year, and were outstanding in the classroom as well with a cumulative GPA of 3.09. Leading our program is special and doing so in my home area of Southern California is truly special. Along with my wife Caroline, who is an alum of UCR, we have established roots here and we absolutely love the city of Riverside. We look forward to building and keeping the momentum into this next year and beyond. Go Highlanders!”
In true UC Riverside ground-breaking fashion, Magpayo is the first Division I Head Men’s Basketball Coach of Asian descent. He is also the founder and President of the Asian Coaches Association, a unified organization of networking, support, and development for Asian coaches and coaches worldwide.
Prior to his time at UC Riverside, Magpayo spent a season at San Francisco (USF) going 22-7, picking up wins over ranked teams like Nevada and St. Mary’s, and advancing to the finals of the CBI Championship. Magpayo also spent time at Campbell University. In his last season with the Camels, he was able to help put together one of the best seasons in school history, as the team was able to advance to the conference championship game as well as the CIT quarterfinals in the program’s first postseason appearance in nearly 25 years. He got his start in the Ivy League at Columbia serving in multiple capacities during the most successful run in program history from 2010-14.
The existing staff is expected to remain in the Inland Empire and continue to build on the foundation established under Patrick’s leadership.
Coach Magpayo is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and his wife Caroline, is a UCR alumna.
https://gohighlanders.com/news/2020/7/1/mike-magpayo-promoted-to-head-mens-basketball-coach.aspx
