Scott Pera (born August 27, 1967) is an American
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
coach and current head coach for the
Rice Owls men's basketball
The Rice Owls men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball program of Rice University. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in Conference USA. They previously participated in the Southwest ...
team.
Coaching career
Pera started his coaching career at
Elizabethtown College
Elizabethtown College (informally E-town) is a private college in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
History
Founding and early years
Founded in 1899, Elizabethtown College is one of many higher learning institutions founded in the 19th century by c ...
in 1992, before embarking on a high school coaching career in Pennsylvania and California, most notably
Artesia High School, where he coached
James Harden
James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...
. In his high school coaching career, Pera compiled a 258–65 record.
In the college ranks, Pera joined
Herb Sendek
Herbert Joseph Sendek Jr. (born February 22, 1963) is an American college basketball coach who is the current men's basketball head coach at Santa Clara.
Early life
Herbert Joseph Sendek, Jr. of Slovak descent, grew up in Pittsburgh and attended ...
's staff at
Arizona State
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
, where he began as the director of basketball operations before being elevated to assistant coach. From 2012 to 2014, Pera was an assistant coach at
Penn under
Jerome Allen.
In 2014, he joined
Mike Rhoades
Michael David Rhoades (born September 21, 1972) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), a position he has held since 2017. Rhoades served as the head men's basketball coac ...
' staff at Rice, and when Rhoades left for
VCU, Pera was elevated to the head coaching position to be the 25th coach in Owls history.
Head coaching record
College
References
External links
Rice profile
1967 births
Living people
American men's basketball coaches
Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball coaches
Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania
High school basketball coaches in the United States
Penn Quakers men's basketball coaches
Sportspeople from Hershey, Pennsylvania
Rice Owls men's basketball coaches
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