Cal Poly Pomona head men’s basketball coach Greg Kamansky has announced the hiring of Brendan Wheeler as assistant coach for the program ahead of the upcoming 2022-23 season.

“We are thrilled to have Brendan join our program as he comes from a great background of knowledge and expertise from the NCAA Division I level,” Kamansky said. “Having worked under a couple of brilliant and successful coaching minds in Coach Rick Croy at California Baptist and Coach Andy Enfield at USC, Brendan will come right in with a high level of energy and enthusiasm to make an incredible impact on our program moving forward.”

Wheeler comes to CPP after spending the last three seasons as the Director of Player Development for the men’s basketball program at NCAA Division I California Baptist University.

“My family and I are extremely excited and blessed to be joining such an amazing athletic department and university,” Wheeler said. “The opportunity to be part of the Bronco family and work with Coach Kamansky and Coach Hill is beyond incredible. I am looking forward to working with our team and contributing to our programs years of continued success and tradition.” 

Since beginning at CBU in July of 2019, Wheeler aided the coaching staff in recruiting, game planning, and opponent scouting, mentored student-athletes to achieve academic goals, co-directed a summer youth basketball camp, assisted team travel and executed all video operations for the program.

From 2017 to 2019 Wheeler served as a Graduate Assistant Coach for the NCAA Division I USC Trojans Men’s Basketball program, assisting the coaching staff with opponent scouting reports, on-court player development, aiding preparation of on-campus recruiting visits, and facilitating video exchange with opponents.

Prior to his arrival at USC, Wheeler spent three seasons (2014-17) as the Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach at Moorpark College. During his time there, Moorpark won the Western State Conference Championship in 2016, and clinched a berth in the CCCAA Playoffs, both were firsts since 2007. In that same season, the team earned CCCAA Scholar Team of the Year Honors, as well as Western State Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.

Wheeler began his coaching journey at the high school ranks serving at his Alma Mater, Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, Calif. He was the Junior Varsity Coach for five seasons (2005-2010) and a Varsity Boys Assistant Coach for four seasons (2010-2014). During his tenure at Bishop Alemany the program had its most successful stretch in school history. The 2014 team reached the CIF DI Quarterfinals, while the 2012 team was the CIF D3 State Champions, the CIF D3 Regional Champions and the CIF D3A Section Champions, all firsts in school history.  The Alemany staff was named the Coaching Staff of the Year by the LA Times. The 2011 team reached the CIF Semi-Finals and the 2010 team was the CIF Section Runners-Up. Wheeler coached 16 future collegiate basketball players in his four Varsity seasons.

Wheeler earned his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Kinesiology from CSUN in 2010. He earned his Masters of Arts degree in Kinesiology from Fresno Pacific University in 2016 and a Masters in Gerontology from USC in 2019. Wheeler, a Southern California native, is married to the former Taleia Gilliam, and in 2020 they welcomed a son, Xander.

Story courtesy: Tyler Lobe, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications, Cal Poly Pomona