Skip to main content

Coaches

2023-24 Mater Dei Boys Basketball Coaching Staff
VARSITY COACHING STAFF
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
VARSITY HEAD COACH - GARY MCKNIGHT
Coach McKnight took over as Mater Dei Head Basketball Coach prior to the 1982-83 season. During his tenure, the Monarchs have won 1 National Championship, 11 California State titles, 16 Southern California Regional titles and 24 CIF Southern Section titles including a National Championship in 2014. The Monarchs have won 39 league titles in his 41 years, including 34 consecutive (1989 - 2022). Coach McKnight has guided the Monarchs to an overall record of 1,243 – 134 since becoming Mater Dei’s head coach. His win total ranks first as the most in California state history. He is also 3rd nationally among all-time coaching leaders in total career wins and #1 among active coaches. Coach McKnight has been nominated for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016, 2017 and 2018 as well as receiving many prestigious awards, including:
 
  • 2018 and 2014 CIF-Southern Section Open Division Coach of the Year Award
  • 2017 NABC Guardians of the Game Leadership Award
  • 2014 Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement in Coaching High School Basketball by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
  • 2014 Naismith Boy’s High School Coach of the Year Award
  • 2014 Max Prep’s Boys’ Basketball National Coach of the Year Award
  • 2014 National High School Coaches Association High School Boys’ Basketball Coach of the Year Award
  • 2014 CIF California State Coach of the Year Award
  • 1997 and 1996 Section 7 Coach of the Year
  • 1996 National Coach of the Year
  • 1987 ESPN National Coach of the Year
 
Most recently, Coach McKnight was inducted into the San Clemente Sports Wall of Fame in 2022, and the Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame inaugural class in 2020.
 
Under Coach McKnight’s tenure, the Monarchs have had 9 players compete in the NBA, 4 former players coaching in the NBA, 25 Monarchs have been named CIF Player of the Year, with 2 Monarchs being named Gatorade State Players of the Year. Many more have had successful college careers, including more than 100 Monarchs that have gone on to play college basketball, including more than 80 at the NCAA Division 1 level.

 

VARSITY ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH - JASON QUINN
Mater Dei Associate Head Coach Jason Quinn is in his 32nd season at Mater Dei both as a player and as a coach. Entering his 29th season as a coach with the Monarchs, Coach Quinn was a key starter on the school’s second basketball State Championship team his senior year in 1990. A graduate of Vanguard University, where he starred as a point guard, Coach Quinn loves the teaching aspect of the game and is forever instilling that into his players. Besides his coaching duties, Coach Quinn is also the Dean of Students at Mater Dei. He, his wife Samantha and their 14 year old son Ayden, reside in Tustin. Coach Quinn favors a motion offense as movement is hard to guard. On defense, he emphasizes man defense and the responsibility that goes with playing that type of defense. Interacting with the players and teaching fundamentals are two of the main items that excites Coach Quinn when it comes to coaching basketball.
 
 
VARSITY ASSOCIATE ASSISTANT COACH - TOM LEWIS
Coach Tom Lewis is in his 2nd year as an Assistant Varsity Coachfor the Monarchs. As a basketball alumnus, he brings a plethora of experience and knowledge. After graduating from Mater Dei (Class of 1985), Coach Lewis went on to play at USC and Pepperdine. He has coached high school, college, and professional basketball all over the country. His coaching experience is inclusive of Mater Dei, Orangewood Academy, Maranatha High School, California State University, Saddleback Valley Christian High School, Valley Christian High School, New Mexico State University, California State University, JSerra Catholic High School, Rutgers University, California State University, Chicago Blaze, N.W.B.L., and Phoenix Mercury, W.N.B.A. Along with coaching, Coach Lewis takes great pride in the personal development of each player. He has had the privilege of developing several individual players who went on to have successful careers in the NBA including Tyson Chandler, Kyle Kuzma, Jamal Sampson, Josh Childress, and Marcus Williams. His mantra is “just get better”. Tom is thrilled to be alongside Coach McKnight once again. Once a Monarch always a Monarch!
 
VARSITY ASSISTANT COACH - SHU ISAGAWA
Coach Shu Isagawa is entering his 9th season at Mater Dei High School. He was previously an assistant coach at Indiana Tech. Before that, he spent one year with the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League as a basketball operations intern. Coach Shu began his coaching career at Santa Margarita High School, under coach Jerry DeBusk. In 2009 he co-founded a youth basketball club program, JSK Basketball, which is located in south Orange County. Coach Shu has also launched two mobile apps, Jump Hi, a basketball/fitness app, and Kitchit, a mobile recipe app.
 
Coach Shu holds a degree in Kinesiology from Long Beach State. He lives in Aliso Viejo with his 8 year old son, Seiji.
 
 
VARSITY ASSISTANT COACH - AARON MOBLEY
This is Coach Aaron Mobley’s 2nd year as an Assistant Varsity Coach at Mater Dei. He began his high school coaching career at Servite High School where he coached for 9 years. Prior to his coaching career at Servite, he both played and served as a GA for Coach Monson and Long Beach State. A proud father of 3 year old Ayzel, Coach Mobley is excited for the opportunity to work with and learn from Coach McKnight, as well as all the other coaches at Mater Dei. With the lessons he has learned, he hopes to be able to help Mater Dei Basketball continue to remain atop California High School basketball and return a CIF championship to the school. Coach Mobley prefers a fast-paced game full of 3 pointers, dunks, and intense defense. 

 

 

VARSITY ASSISTANT COACH - GARY FRANKLIN
Gary Franklin is now in his 3rd year is a Varsity Assistant Coach. With having some of his favorite memories here as a player and student at Mater Dei, Coach Franklin is looking forward to creating new ones as a coach under Gary McKnight. After graduating from Mater Dei (Class of 2010), he went on to play at Cal Berkeley before transferring to Baylor University having the opportunity to play in three post seasons, including a Sweet 16 run, an Elite 8 and an NIT Championship. After playing overseas, Gary decided it was time to keep himself around basketball. By coaching, Coach Franklin is able to give back the knowledge he’s gained over the years to players as they embark on their own path, using basketball as a tool to provide higher education and experiences that’ll last a lifetime.
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

JUNIOR VARSITY HEAD COACH - NICK NOVAK
Beginning his 1st year as Head Coach of the Junior Varsity team and 4th year overall on the Mater Dei coaching staff, Coach Nick Novak is also a member of the Social Studies Department at Mater Dei, teaching AP US History. A graduate of Estancia High School in Costa Mesa, Coach Novak played at Orange Coast College for Tim O’Brien and the legendary Herb Livsey. After graduating from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in History, Coach Novak began his career in education at the Tiger Woods Foundation where he taught STEM and managed programs for almost a decade. A proud father of two future Monarchs, Jameson and Audrey, Coach Novak can be found at one of his children’s games or performances when he is not on campus. Coach Novak employs a ‘defense first’ philosophy as a coach and states, “coaching at Mater Dei and for Coach McKnight is a dream come true”. He recognizes his role as ensuring his players understand the expectations and legacy of Mater Dei basketball, and he wants to continue the rich history and winning tradition at Mater Dei – HONOR GLORY LOVE.
 
 
JUNIOR VARSITY ASSISTANT COACH - MYROND BROWN
Now in his 11th year as an Assistant Coach at Mater Dei, Coach Myrond Brown brings extensive experience to the Monarch staff. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Coach Brown was a multi-sport star playing baseball, basketball and football at Detroit Eastern HS. He continued his academic and athletic journey at Antelope Valley College where he played both basketball and football while earning his AA Degree. This was followed by Cal State Fullerton University where he played basketball and earned his Bachelor’s degree. His final stop was at Azusa Pacific University where he earned his Master of Science degree. After college, Coach Brown transitioned from student-athlete to teacher and coach where he spent 3 years at Villa Park HS and 43 years at Santa Ana College. When not on the sidelines, Coach Brown could be found between the lines as a sports official for basketball, football, baseball, volleyball and softball for an amazing 55 years. Coach Brown and his wife Charlotte are proud parents of 4 children: Myron Jr., Myteshia, and MD alumni Kyle (Class of 2005) and Kamyron (Class of 2007).

 

 

JUNIOR VARSITY ASSISTANT COACH - KAMYRON BROWN
In his 4th year as an Assistant JV coach at Mater Dei, Kamyron Brown brings his players knowledge of the game to the Monarchs staff. He began his training and coaching career alongside his cousin Miles Simon, where he got the opportunity to train various NBA guys such as the Wear twins, David and Travis. Before coaching, Kamyron played for Coach McKnight and is a class of 2007 Mater Dei alumni. From there, Coach Brown played at the University of Oregon. The best thing Coach Brown says about coaching at Mater Dei is that he gets to coach alongside his dad, Myrond Brown, who is also part of the JV staff.

 

JUNIOR VARSITY ASSISTANT COACH - JOSE ALMAZAN
Now in his 3rd year as a Junior Varsity Assistant Coach at Mater Dei, Coach Jose Almazan has a plethora of life experiences and brings knowledge of the game to the Monarch staff. He graduated from Santa Ana Valley Class of 1991 and received an academic scholarship to the University of Southern California. After transferring to California State University, Long Beach, he received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Coach Almazan served our nation by joining the United States Marine Corps and retired after 24 years honorable service with the rank of First Sergeant. He currently works for the County of Orange. Coach Almazan began his coaching career with Coach Gary McKnight’s son Clay McKnight. Since 2010, Coach Almazan has trained and coached players alongside Coach McKnight and Clay McKnight (South Coast and Big Red travel teams). Coach Almazan thrives on teaching youth the fundamentals of basketball and expanding the player’s knowledge as it relates to the sport of basketball. He and his wife Carmen are proud parents of MD Alumni: JR ‘Class of 2017’ and Cristian ‘Class of 2020’; current Monarchs Jacob ‘Class of 2025’and Joel ‘Class of 2026’; and future Monarch Caitlyn ‘Class of 2027’. Coach Almazan’s favorite experience was traveling to Iraq and serving under challenging and harsh conditions. He is appreciative of his blessings and a firm believer in FAITH...
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
SOPHOMORE HEAD COACH - JIM LARKINS
Coach Larkins (Class of 1987) begins his 10th season as the Head Coach of our Sophomore Boys Basketball team. Jim is honored to be a member of Coach McKnight's staff. He values the relationships he has made with coaches, players, and parents. He appreciates the opportunity to teach life lessons to his players that apply to basketball, school, and beyond. On the court, he prefers his teams play an up-tempo fast-paced motion offense with  aggressive full-court man to man pressure defense.
 
In the coming 2023-2024 season, our Sophomores will be seeking their 8th consecutive Trinity League Championship under Jim's leadership. In addition to their many Tournament and League championships, Coach Larkins is most proud of a 33 game winning streak his teams recently compiled.
 
Jim is licensed by the state of California to represent homeowners/businesses who file insurance property damage claims and works for an industry-leading public adjusting firm, Allied Public Adjusters, Inc. He resides in Anaheim Hills with his wife Cynthia and daughter Jacqueline (Class of 2018).

 

SOPHOMORE ASSISTANT COACH - ERNIE GARCIA
In 1998, Coach Garcia & his family became part of the Monarch family. It was then he set his site on coaching for Coach McKnight. Coach Garcia has been a coach most of his adult life. Coaching Little League is where his friendship with Coach Gary began. Coaching has always been Coach Garcia’s true love. Now in his 6th year as the Assistant Sophomore coach, Coach Garcia brings his experience on and off the court to share with his players. Coach Garcia is known for running drills with a big smile. Coach Garcia takes great pride in watching his players develop. A proud father of two former Monarchs, Michael (Class of 2001) and Mitchell (Class of 2004), as well as two grandsons and future Monarchs, Grant and Garrett. Coach Garcia takes pride in his team’s league titles. When Coach Garcia is not on the basketball court you can find him on the golf course enjoying life.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

FRESHMAN HEAD COACH - WES TERRY
After 2 seasons as the Assistant Coach of the Mater Dei Freshman basketball team, Coach Terry is assuming the role as Head Coach where he looks forward to an exciting season and to continue the winning traditions of the program. His coaching experience began coaching club basketball out of San Clemente, where he’s continued to coach for the past 7 years. Coach Terry finds passion in developing his players and inspiring their personal growth to prepare them for challenges on and off the court. In his personal time, Coach Terry enjoys spending time and vacationing with his girlfriend, Leslie and 6 year old son, Kameron. Coach Terry attended Capistrano Valley High School where he played under Coach Mulligan. He went on to play college basketball at Orange Coast College.
 
 
 
FRESHMAN ASSISTANT COACH - BILL DINH
Coach Bill Dinh is excited to begin his first year with the Mater Dei Boys Basketball Program. He brings to the program a wealth of experience, having previously served as an assistant coach for the Junior Varsity Boys Basketball Team at Santiago High School in Garden Grove. While at Santiago, Coach Bill was part of a program that was known for its hard work and dedication to excellence.

In his previous role as the Junior Varsity Boys Basketball Head Coach at Estancia, Coach Bill developed a passion for teaching the fundamentals of basketball and helping his players develop the skills they need to succeed. He believes that playing basketball is more than just about winning and losing; it's about learning teamwork, sportsmanship, and how to overcome adversity. Coach Bill is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where he got his degree in Economics.