SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After a five-month vacancy, Sacramento State's men's basketball team has a new head coach.
David Patrick has been brought on by Sacramento State to serve as the team's 15th head coach, the school's Director of Athletics, Mark Orr announced Tuesday.
Patrick, a recruiter with 17 years of coaching experience, fills the vacancy left by former head coach Brian Katz, who resigned from his position in early November citing health reasons. Katz was regarded as the winningest coach in program history during the division one era.
Since Katz's resignation, associate head coach Brandon Laird has been filling in as the team's interim head coach.
"We are thrilled to welcome David to Sacramento State to lead our men’s basketball program," Orr said in a statement. "David’s vision for our program and his values as a leader of student-athletes align perfectly with our University. He has a wide range of experience, and a proven track record of recruiting and developing student-athletes to meet their goals. I look forward building a championship basketball program under his leadership."
As a coach, 29 of Patrick's former players have gone on to play professionally, including 19 in the NBA, according to Sacramento State.
Most recently, Patrick served as the assistant head coach for the University of Oklahoma.
“I’m ecstatic to be named the new head men’s basketball coach at Sacramento State,” Patrick said in a statement. "This program has all the characteristics to compete for Big Sky Conference championships. I’ve been around winning at every stop of my coaching journey, and that is the DNA I will instill in this program."
