Coaching

The ability to recognize, attract and develop the best

Coach Lopez is in his second season at Glendale having been hired by Athletic Director Dave Grant in May 2012. In his first season at the Junior College ranks, Lopez guided the Gauchos to Runner-Up Finish in the NJCAA Region I Championships.

Damin Lopez first earned a reputation as a developer of young basketball talent during his twelve years at St Mary's High school in Phoenix, Arizona. Working alongside his father David Lopez, first as Assistant Coach then Associate Head Coach, Damin honed his eye for evaluating the athletic abilities of student-athletes and helping them maximize their potential. Responsible for developing their day-to-day academic progress as well as their on-court performance, Damin excelled at bringing out the best in his students, establishing St Mary's as a perennial Arizona basketball powerhouse, while helping propel them to a cumulative 3.1 GPA.

During Damin's tenure, St. Mary's won a State Championship, participated in 6 Final Fours, and won or shared the Desert Valley Region 9 times while posting a 276-94 record. In the process, he was instrumental in developing such NBA quality players as Channing Frye of the Phoenix Suns and Jerryd Bayless of the Portland Trail Blazers.

At Pepperdine University, Damin continued raising his game. In just two years, he recruited the #1 recruiting class as pegged by Street and Smith, having left Pepperdine signing the 2012-13 West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year, Stacy Davis. And with his dedication to academic progress, he's helped raise his student-athletes' cumulative GPA a full point – from 1.9 to 2.9.

As a superior judge of high school talent and a master motivator, Damin has shared his expertise over the years at several Arizona basketball clinics, including the annual Phoenix Suns Camp in Prescott.

"Winners are the people
who when the odds are
stacked against them, and
those around them have fallen,
will have the courage to look
within themselves and
make the unbelievable
believable, and the
impossible possible."
    Coach Damin Lopez