In the DAILY DIRT back on 4/4, I mentioned that Seattle Pacific had removed the interim tag from head coach Keffrey Fazio. SPU has finally made that official – here’s the release:
Keffrey Fazio, who led the Seattle Pacific University men’s basketball team to the program’s 12th Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament appearance in his one-season stint as interim head coach, has had his interim tag removed, Director of Athletics Dan Lepse announced Friday.
“Keffrey served Seattle Pacific commendably for several years as an assistant coach and last year in the interim role, making his promotion to the head coaching position an easy decision,” Lepse said. “He inherited a young group and helped create an extremely competitive team.”
“I am honored to lead a program with such a great history,” Fazio said. “I have a lot of respect for many of the coaches and players before me and look forward to building on an already exceptional tradition here at SPU. Seattle Pacific is a special place, and we will do special things. I want to thank Dr. President Deana Porterfield, Jeff Jordan, and Dan Lepse for their support throughout this process.”
Fazio took over as interim head coach of the Falcons in May of 2023. He originally joined the SPU staff before the 2019-20 season. Seattle Pacific is coming off a 17-15 season, featuring an 11-2 home record. The team earned a fifth-place regular season finish in the GNAC.
Fazio’s first season at the helm featured new school scoring record holder Shaw Anderson as a unanimous GNAC Preseason Player of the Year and First Team member. He also was a D2CCA All-West Region First Team and All-American selection.
In the classroom, the Falcons had three GNAC All-Academic team members and one College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team member. As a team, the Falcons had grade point averages of 3.35 in the fall of 2023 and 3.55 in the winter quarter of 2024
“More significantly than his impact on the court, Keffrey forged a Falcons team that thrived in the classroom,” Lepse stated. “He proved to be a good leader and a positive influence in terms of academic, character, and faith development for our student-athletes. We’re thrilled to put this team in Keffrey’s hands and can’t wait to see what he does to elevate the program.”
“The mission remains the same,” Fazio mentioned “Our goal is to achieve on the basketball court, in the classroom, and our community. We will continue to bring in and produce high-character student-athletes and try to become champions in competition, and in life.”
Fazio joined the Falcons after a decade-long tenure at West Seattle High School. He served four years as an assistant coach at West Seattle under Donald Watts before assuming the head coaching role he held for six seasons. He transformed West Seattle into a contender in Seattle’s competitive Metro League after taking over in 2013. He twice received the Metro Coach of the Year award, in 2017 and again in 2018.
The Wildcats compiled a 92-64 record under Fazio’s direction and placed third at the 2017 Washington State tournament, their best finish ever. West Seattle qualified for the district tournament six times and advanced to the state tournament again in 2019.
A product of Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way south of Seattle, where he played basketball, Fazio attended Green River Community College for two years before transferring to the University of Washington. He graduated from UW in 2013 with a degree in psychology.
Fazio has been active in coaching for more than 20 years, including assistant coaching stints at Decatur High School in Federal Way and at Burien’s Kennedy High School.
Fazio’s involvement is not restricted to the sidelines. He was the executive board secretary and the all-state games chairman for the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association while also serving as the Baden Scholarship advisor and the Seattle area coordinator for the WIBCA College Combine.
