Matt Brase (born June 15, 1982) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach who is the head coach of

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

in the Italian

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

(LBA) and Haiti men's national basketball team.

Playing career

Brase played for

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

and led the team to the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

, where they reached the Elite Eight in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. He was coached by his grandfather, basketball coach

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head co ...

, from 2003 to 2005.

College coaching career

After graduation, Brase served in different capacities in the Arizona Wildcats basketball department. After being promoted to assistant coach at Arizona during the 2009, his team reached the Sweet 16. For the 2009–11 seasons, Brase served as an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University while studying for his master's degree in business administration with a focus on leadership.

Professional coaching career

The

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

hired him in 2011. During the 2011–12 season he worked as part of the Rockets basketball operations staff focusing on player personnel and scouting college, international and NBA players. In 2012–2013 Brase served as an assistant coach for

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

. In 2013, he became the Director of Operations for the

. The Houston Rockets named him the head coach for the

beginning the 2015 season. In 2018, he became an Assistant coach for the

and led the team to an NBA D-League Western Conference title. On July 6, 2022, he has signed with

in the Italian

(LBA).

Personal life

Brase’s father, Jon, is a dentist. He played baseball at Iowa. Brase's sister played for University of Arizona's women’s basketball team before becoming a coach at Loyola Marymount and then with the WNBA’s

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, playing in the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the league ...

. His mother, Jody, is the daughter of Lute Olson, and the Principal at

Catalina Foothills High School Catalina Foothills High School (Catalina Foothills, Foothills, or CFHS) is a public high school, located in the upscale suburban community of Catalina Foothills, just north of Tucson, Arizona, United States. It is the only high school in the Ca ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brase, Matt 1982 births Living people American men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) Arizona Wildcats men's basketball coaches Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Arizona Basketball players from Arizona Basketball players from Tucson, Arizona Central Arizona College alumni Grand Canyon Antelopes men's basketball coaches Houston Rockets assistant coaches Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Pallacanestro Varese coaches Rio Grande Valley Vipers coaches