‘This is my dream job’: Chris Acker introduced as Long Beach State men’s basketball coach
Chris Acker is excited about getting the Long Beach State men’s basketball program back to where it belongs with annual appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Chris Acker has been introduced as the 17th coach in Long Beach State's basketball history, becoming the new head coach of the team. Acker, a Los Angeles native who has family in the community, has fond memories of growing up in Long Island and has been a coach for nearly two decades. He has previously worked as an assistant at Citrus College, West LA College, Hawaii, Boise State, and San Diego State before being hired to lead the Long Beach state men's basketball program. Ack's philosophy of play is similar to that of offensive and execution, and he promises to run at home and away from the court when on the road.
ที่ตีพิมพ์ : เมื่อ เดือนที่แล้ว โดย John W. Davis ใน Sports
LONG BEACH — Chris Acker is not shy in letting everyone know that being the new head coach of the Long Beach State men’s basketball team is his dream job.
“I want you guys to know this is my dream job,” Acker said during his opening remarks after being introduced as the 17th coach in Long Beach State men’s basketball history Thursday afternoon.
That’s because the 43-year-old Los Angeles native, who has family in Long Beach, has fond memories of growing up in the community. He remembers playing AAU basketball games at the Pyramid. He remembers playing in open runs organized by two-time NBA champion Craig Hodges at the Pyramid. He was also on hand to watch five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant play his first summer league game at the Pyramid in 1996.
“This is a program with tradition already established, so we’re not reinventing the wheel, we’re just trying to get it back to where it belongs,” Acker continued.
He also wants people to know about the nearly two decades of sacrifice that it has taken to rise from an assistant coach at Citrus College in 2007, with a stop as the head coach at West LA College to DI roles as assistant at Hawaii, Boise State and San Diego State, before being hired this week to lead the Long Beach State men’s basketball program.
“It’s not just a basketball sacrifice sometimes you’re sacrificing things with family, sometimes you’re missing birthdays, sometimes you’re missing Thanksgiving and Christmas, sometimes you have to be disconnected from people that are closest to you and sometimes you have to leave people behind and they look at you differently because of it but when you’re on a mission, you’re just pushing towards that mission,” Acker explained. “You want everybody around you to be excited about your journey and your process but outside of basketball those are some of the essential sacrifices I’ve had to make.
“As it relates to basketball, absolutely there are sacrifices because you have to give of yourself and the guys you’re coaching have to become your kids and so to the best of your ability you try to involve your family with the program but you spend more time with the players in the program than you do your own family.”
Most recently, Acker, who is well-regarded as a dynamic recruiter with local, regional, national and international connections, spent the past five seasons at San Diego State. During his tenure, the Aztecs had a 134-34 overall record, highlighted by reaching the National Championship game last season and the Sweet 16 this season.
“From a basketball standpoint, we want guys who want to be committed to seeing and getting the best out of what Long Beach State has to offer,” Acker explained. “We want our men’s basketball team to be focused on winning, winning first.
“We want guys that want to go to class. We want guys that are focused. We have guys who understand our values and I think with all of those things being said, we want guys who want to play professional basketball at the highest level and when all of that comes together, I think we put a great product out there on the floor.”
During his introductory speech, Acker dove into his style of play.
“We can’t get into our style of play until our values and our focus are in line,” Acker shared. “Then we can hop out on the court and we can talk about how good we’re going to be defensively.
“We’re going to compete defensively. This program is going to defend. We’re going to be tough on the ball and we’re going to be tough in our gaps and we’re going to help each other. We’re going to do multiple things on the floor. We’re going to be the best defensive team in the Big West, unequivocally, without question. We’re going to be the best on that end of the floor.”
Acker’s offensive mantra is similar, rooted in execution and effort.
“We’re going to secure the basketball and we’re going to run,” Acker said. “We’re going to run at home and we’re going to run on the road and that’s important to me because I don’t like front-running teams. I don’t like teams that are elite at home and they change when they’re on the road. The two things that will travel with us are our defense and how we play downhill in transition on offense.”
Meanwhile, the first-time DI head coach comes from a basketball family where his younger brother Alex played in the NBA with the Detroit Pistons. He also has the full support of the school’s administration.
“The basketball coaching community is well aware of the opportunity for significant, sustained success at the Beach,” Long Beach State Executive Director of Athletics Bobby Smitheran said.
“Our basketball program has benefited from the leadership of many excellent coaches and I’m grateful to all of those dedicated and enthusiastic coaches but also their staff, certainly the scholar-athletes, the fans, the donors who have helped us build men’s basketball into a highly competitive program that is now ready to take an exciting leap forward with the hiring of our new head coach Chris Acker,” Long Beach State University President Jane Close Conoley said.
Long Beach State finished this season with a 21-15 record and earned an NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the Big West Conference Tournament under long-time coach Dan Monson. After Monson’s departure, several of the team’s key players have entered the NCAA transfer portal. However, Acker said he is actively recruiting the program’s current players and will welcome them back with open arms.
“I want to talk right now to the players that are here, coming back and I’m very optimistic I want to talk to the players that are potentially coming back. I want to tell you first of all I appreciate what you guys got done. To win three games in three days and gel the way you did was unbelievable,” Acker explained.
“I also want to say congratulations for making it to the NCAA Tournament, one of the hardest tournaments to ever be invited into, especially with you guys know with the NET (rankings), and all of the analytics, it’s even harder to get into that tournament so congratulations for making it to the NCAA Tournament but I want you to know we can do it again.”
Acker will look to continue the legacy of some of LBSU’s most notable coaches like Jerry Tarkanian (Elite 8 appearances), Lute Olson (Sweet 16 appearance), Tex Winters and Seth Greenberg (NCAA Tournament appearances).
“The more organic the relationships are the better opportunity we have to serve the community and just being visible in the community allows us the opportunity to recruit right here in our backyard,” Acker said. “So absolutely, we’re going to be here. I plan on our staff being in the gyms locally but we’re going to recruit the best players, we’re going to recruit the best fits for Long Beach State.”
หัวข้อ: Basketball