Thanks for posting the story: great insight into his thoughts. And some surprising quotes below. It also highlights what we've been saying about the program's potential. Big highlight here:
“Not a lot of people know this,” Acker said, “but as I was getting into coaching, I thought, ‘If there’s a place I want to be and a place I could be forever and not a job I had to look at as a stepping-stone job, Long Beach State was always it.’ You can win championships there. You can do something special there.
“I always thought of it as a place of unbelievable potential. … You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”
It is considered the best job in the 11-school Big West, given its proximity to the basketball hotbed of Southern California, its mid-sized arena instead of gym and its rich history in the sport.
Jerry Tarkanian coached there. So did Lute Olson, Seth Greenberg and Tex Winter (the architect of the triangle offense). Beach has reached the NCAA Tournament 10 times, including four trips to the Sweet 16 in the 1970s. Twenty alums have played in the NBA.
ALSO...
“The one lesson I learned from a culture standpoint is how you recruit and who you recruit,” Acker said. “You can recruit guys all you want and tell them to be tough, but if they’re not built that way, that’s a very, very daunting task. As Dutch will tell you, culture is something built over a long period of time. A piece of San Diego State culture is going to Long Beach State now.”
This is a massive hire!
GO BEACH!!!
Chris Acker grew up in the L.A. area and played in youth tournaments in Long Beach State’s arena
BY MARK ZEIGLER
APRIL 2, 2024 11:39 AM PT
When Long Beach State began speaking to San Diego State assistant Chris Acker about its head coaching vacancy, no one had to show him where the arena is.
Acker grew up in the area, played AAU tournaments at the Walter Pyramid, worked out there by Beach alum Craig Hodges, watched Kobe Bryant play NBA summer league games there.
“My dream job,” Acker said.
The dream officially became reality Tuesday, when Long Beach State announced Acker as its replacement for Dan Monson. A news conference is scheduled for Thursday.
“Not a lot of people know this,” Acker said, “but as I was getting into coaching, I thought, ‘If there’s a place I want to be and a place I could be forever and not a job I had to look at as a stepping-stone job, Long Beach State was always it.’ You can win championships there. You can do something special there.
“I always thought of it as a place of unbelievable potential. … You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.”
It is considered the best job in the 11-school Big West, given its proximity to the basketball hotbed of Southern California, its mid-sized arena instead of gym and its rich history in the sport.
Jerry Tarkanian coached there. So did Lute Olson, Seth Greenberg and Tex Winter (the architect of the triangle offense). Beach has reached the NCAA Tournament 10 times, including four trips to the Sweet 16 in the 1970s. Twenty alums have played in the NBA.
Monson was there 17 years but was either fired or left by “mutual agreement,” depending on whose version you accept, by new athletic director Bobby Smitheran shortly before the Big West tournament. A regional story exploded into a national one when Beach won the conference tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, and Smitheran said the timing of his decision was to “inspire” the team.
“I’m not trying to pat myself on the back,” he said, “but it worked.”
That Smitheran, who had a head start in the hiring process, did not name a successor last week was a pretty good indication he had targeted someone from a staff that was still playing. SDSU finished its season Thursday at the Sweet 16 in Boston, and Acker quickly finalized the deal. It makes sense. They worked closely when Smitheran was an associate AD at SDSU.
Acker was asked to describe the last three weeks.
“Extremely emotional,” he said. “It was my dream job and a place I can see myself at and a great fit for my family, so it was emotional because I wanted it so bad. But it was also emotional because I’m looking at a team I was coaching and a program I had been at for five years, thinking that I’m not going to be coaching these guys I had envisioned going to war with the following year. So it was emotional on both sides.
“But thankfully I work for a head coach in Brian Dutcher who just allowed me to go through my process. He let me do my thing because he knew I was completely invested in San Diego State.”
Acker, 43, has been a head coach before, at West Los Angeles College for two seasons. He then spent two years as an assistant at Hawaii, two at Boise State and the past five at SDSU.
“When Dutch hired me, one of the things we talked about is he didn’t want to hire guys who didn’t want to be head coaches,” he said. “That’s always been an ambition of mine since I started coaching college basketball. But I also respected that seat enough that I needed to learn every lesson possible along the way.”
Which is?
“The one lesson I learned from a culture standpoint is how you recruit and who you recruit,” Acker said. “You can recruit guys all you want and tell them to be tough, but if they’re not built that way, that’s a very, very daunting task. As Dutch will tell you, culture is something built over a long period of time. A piece of San Diego State culture is going to Long Beach State now.”
Acker won’t get a break after a grueling season and another tournament run. He has to hire a staff, and the Beach roster from a 21-win team currently consists of four scholarship players. Everyone else exhausted their eligibility or is in the transfer portal, including Ivory Coast-born forwards Aboubacar Traore (12.0 points, 8.4 rebounds) and Lassina Traore (11.9, 10.3).
In a news release , Smitheran called Acker’s brand of leadership “exactly what is needed for the next era of Beach basketball.
“He is passionate, intentional, gritty, and a man of great integrity, and we look forward to seeing what he can build in the next chapter of this storied program,” Smitheran said.
SD Union Tribune had a story ready to go live - and it did pretty quickly. Anyone subscribed to the Tribune?
The headline is pretty solid: 'My dream job': SDSU assistant Chris Acker is Long Beach State's new head coach
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/aztecs/story/2024-04-02/san-diego-state-sdsu-aztecs-basketball-assistant-coach-chris-acker-long-beach-state-bobby-smitheran
GO BEACH
Welcome to the Beach Coach Acker. You have my full support.
Welcome indeed!
Looking forward to Coach Acker's making an impact at the Beach!
The body of work speaks for itself:
Acker is the 17th head coach of the program, coming off two four straight NCAA appearances in his five seasons at San Diego State.
By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State Athletics has hired Chris Acker to be the next leader of the Long Beach State Men's Basketball program. Acker has extensive experience guiding strategy and player development with an emphasis on both offense and defense during his career. Additionally, he is a dynamic recruiter with strong relationships that have proven to land impact players from Southern California, domestically, and internationally.
Acker has spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at San Diego State, playing a crucial role in the team's recent success. The Aztecs have reached the NCAA in each of the last four seasons and were 30-2 in 2019-20 prior to the COVID shutdown. Last season, SDSU reached the National Championship game and advanced to the Sweet 16 this past season. In his five seasons as an assistant coach at SDSU, the Aztecs have gone 134-34 overall.
"Our search committee placed a premium on identifying a candidate with a championship pedigree, a desire to support the holistic development of the young men in our basketball program, and a connection to the tremendous community of Long Beach," said Executive Director of Athletics, Bobby Smitheran. "Chris Acker exemplifies all of those qualities, and his brand of leadership is exactly what is needed for the next era of Beach Basketball. He is passionate, intentional, gritty, and a man of great integrity, and we look forward to seeing what he can build in the next chapter of this storied program."
In all five of Acker's seasons at San Diego State, the Aztecs have played in the Mountain West Championship game and continue to compete at a very high level. This past season, the Aztecs averaged 74.7 points per game led by Wooden Award Finalist Jaedon LeDee who has been one of the dominant players in the country. LeDee ranked in the nation's Top 10 in scoring at 21.5 points per game, highlighting seven players averaging over five points per game this year for San Diego State. The Aztecs rank in the nation's Top 50 teams in offensive efficiency in 2023- 24 under Acker's guidance.
Acker has proven that he can create prolific offenses even without a dominant scorer. In San Diego State's run to the title game in 2022-23, the Aztecs had eight players averaging at least 5.8 points per game and none higher than First Team All-Mountain West performer Matt Bradley's 12.8 points per game.
During that season, the Aztecs scored a program record 2,775 points and saw their bench score over 1,000 points during the season, posting a 28-5 record when the team's bench outscored their opponents.
"My family and I are thrilled to be part of the Long Beach State community and we look forward to developing an elite basketball program the city of Long Beach will proud of," said Acker. "With Long Beach State's rich history and traditions, we will work together to connect current and past players, students, campus stakeholders, and the greater community to once again become a premier program in Southern California.
"I am incredibly thankful to be the next Head Men's Basketball Coach at Long Beach State University and I'd like to thank President Conoley and Athletic Director, Bobby Smitheran, for the trust and faith placed in me to lead LBSU Men's Basketball. Together in this new era we will unlock the full potential of what our program can become."
Prior to his arrival at San Diego State, Acker spent two seasons at Mountain West rival Boise State, where his emphasis was with the defense under head coach Leon Rice. In his first season with the Broncos, Boise State ranked in the nation's Top 50 in defensive efficiency. In each of his two seasons in Boise, the Broncos ranked third in the Mountain West in points allowed.
Boasting Big West experience as well, Acker started his Division I coaching career at Hawai'i, where he helped guide the Rainbow Warriors to one of their best seasons in 2015-16. Hawai'i finished the year with 28 victories and reached the NCAA Tournament before upsetting fourth-seeded California in the school's first postseason victory.
Acker's move to Division I came on the heels of two successful stints in the junior college ranks. As the head coach of West Los Angeles College, he rebuilt the program in two years, taking 11 freshmen in his first season and leading that group to an 18-9 record and a CCCAA Regional playoff berth within two years.
In his first coaching position with Citrus College, Acker spent six seasons at Citrus, winning the 2008 California State Championship and posting a dominant 92-9 record during his tenure, first as an assistant and then as the associate head coach of the program.
A Los Angeles native, Acker closed his collegiate playing career at Chaminade University in Hawaii, before playing professionally for four seasons in Europe and the United States.
Long Beach State will have a public welcome ceremony to greet Coach Acker in The Pointe at the Walter Pyramid on Thursday, April 4 at Noon.
GO BEACH
Welcome to THE BEACH Coach Acker!
Looking forward to seeing where his leadership can take the program into the future!
GO BEACH
If you are having trouble reading this email, read the online version.
Good Morning,
I appreciate your support of Long Beach State Men's basketball at the Big West Men's Basketball Championship and their incredible run to the 2024 NCAA Tournament!
As a friend and supporter, I want to share this with you first. I am thrilled to share some exciting news regarding our Men’s Basketball program: Chris Acker has been appointed as the 17th Long Beach State Men’s Basketball Head Coach. His appointment follows a national search facilitated by Collegiate Sports Associates, and Chris emerged as the standout candidate lead our program.
Throughout this process, Chris has shown his dedication to holistic student-athlete development, which resonates deeply with my and our program's values.
Chris comes to us with a wealth of experience, having served as an assistant coach at San Diego State, where he played a pivotal role in the team's remarkable achievements, including a 7-2 record and national championship game appearance in the NCAA Tournament. His track record in player development, recruiting, and strategic coaching has earned him widespread recognition within the collegiate basketball community.
With his diverse coaching background, including stints at Boise State and Hawai’i, Chris brings a breadth of knowledge and perspective to our program. His experience at both the collegiate and professional levels will be invaluable in guiding our team into the future
Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Chris and his family as they embark on this exciting journey with us. Your first opportunity to meet Coach Acker will be on April 4th at The Pointe at 12 p.m. Together, we look forward to achieving new heights of success for Beach Athletics.
Thank you for your investment in Long Beach State Men’s Basketball and your commitment to Beach Athletics. This journey is made better by having you on our team.
Go Beach!
Bobby Smitheran
Executive Director of Athletics
#GOBEACH