Scott Jon Garson (born April 24, 1976) is an American basketball coach who is currently an assistant coach at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

. Prior to that, Garson was an assistant men's basketball coach at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. From 2013 to 2018, Garson was head coach at the

College of Idaho The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891 by Rev. William Judson Boone as a Presbyterian college, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over ...

Early life and education

Born in

Tarzana, California Tarzana () is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan. His ...

, Garson grew up in a Jewish family in

Calabasas Calabasas may refer to: * Calabasas, Arizona, former populated place in what is now Rio Rico, Arizona * Calabasas, California, city in Los Angeles County, California See also * Calabaza Calabaza is the generic name in the Spanish langua ...

and graduated from

Harvard-Westlake School Harvard-Westlake School is an independent, co-educational university preparatory day school in Los Angeles, California, with about 1,600 students in grades seven through twelve. The school has two campuses: the middle school campus in Holmby ...

in 1994. After high school, Garson initially attended

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

and played at guard in basketball and pitcher in baseball in 1994–95. In 1995, Garson transferred to the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

(UCSB). He graduated from UCSB in 1999 with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in law and society. While a student at UCSB, Garson was a production assistant for ''

The Jim Rome Show ''The Jim Rome Show'' is an American sports radio talk show hosted by Jim Rome. It airs live for three hours each weekday from 12pm to 3pm Pacific Time. The show is produced in Los Angeles, syndicated by Westwood One, and can be heard on aff ...

'' in the summer of 1996 and worked for the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

Office of Public Affairs in the summer of 1997. From 1996 to 1998, Garson was a varsity basketball assistant coach and junior varsity head coach at

Santa Barbara High School Santa Barbara Senior High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a sprawling campus in Santa Barbara, California in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Among the oldest high schools in California and one of five high schools in the Di ...

. In 2003, Garson completed a

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

in exercise and sports science with an emphasis in sport psychology from the

Coaching career

College

Garson, who was hired in April 2018, spent his previous five seasons as head coach at the

where he led the Yotes to a 129–42 record, three

Cascade Collegiate Conference The Cascade Collegiate Conference (or Cascade Conference) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member schools are located in the Northwestern United States and in Britis ...

regular season championships, three league tournament titles and four NAIA national tournament appearances, including a run to the 2015 national quarterfinals and 2018 semifinals. Prior to his time at the College of Idaho, Garson was on Ben Howland’s staff at

for nine seasons, worked under

Rick Majerus Richard Raymond Majerus (February 17, 1948 – December 1, 2012) was an American basketball coach and TV analyst. He coached at Marquette University (1983–1986), Ball State University (1987–1989), the University of Utah (1989–2004), and S ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

for 5 years and spent 1 season at

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private university, private Christianity, Christian research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ, with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pepperdine's main campus consists ...

under

Lorenzo Romar Lorenzo Romar (born November 13, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Loyola Marymount Lions men's basketball, Loyola Marymount Lions, a position he has held since 2024. He pre ...

. During his 21 seasons in college basketball at 5 different schools, Coach Garson has been a part of 20 winning seasons, 17 postseason berths and 10 conference championships. Garson led the Yotes to both the CCC regular-season and tournament titles in 2014, 2015 and 2018. He became the first coach at the school to win back-to-back league crowns since the 1950s. His 2014–15 team posted a 30–6 record, which was then the second-most single-season victories in the school’s 105-year men’s basketball program history. The 2017–18 squad matched that total when they finished 30–7. Garson was the recipient of the 2015 Red Auerbach National Coach of the Year Award, and was named the 2014 and 2018 CCC Coach of the Year. He coached six NAIA All-Americans, two CCC Players of the Year and three CCC Defensive Players of the Year. In all, 17 players under Garson earned All-CCC honors and 13 secured Academic All-CCC selections. His College of Idaho teams enjoyed home cooking, posting a 76–10 mark at J.A. Albertson Activities Center. During his tenure, home attendance nearly doubled, with the Yotes leading the NAIA in home attendance during the 2014–15 campaign and finishing second during 2015–16 and 2016–17. During Garson’s tenure at UCLA, the Bruins amassed a record of 222–90, including four Pac-10/Pac-12 Conference regular season titles (2006, 2007, 2008, 2013), and two Pac-10 tournament titles (2006, 2008). The Bruins qualified for six NCAA Tournaments and made trips to the Final Four in 2006, 2007 and 2008 – reaching the 2006 national championship game. Garson was responsible for the development of the UCLA perimeter players – including current NBA players,

Russell Westbrook Russell Westbrook III (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, Westbrook made his NBA debut in 2008 and became a star as a member o ...

Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. As a junior, he was named a consensus All-America ...

Darren Collison Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Collison played four seasons of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He earned All-Pa ...

Jrue Holiday Jrue Randall Holiday ( ; born June 12, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins before being selecte ...

, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute,

Shabazz Muhammad Shabazz Nagee Muhammad (born November 13, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Hangtuah Jakarta of the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL). He played one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins before being selecte ...

, Kyle Anderson, and

Norman Powell Norman WC Powell (born May 25, 1993) is a Jamaican-American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Powell played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, where he was an all-con ...

. Garson also was responsible for the recruitment of

Zach LaVine Zachary Thomas LaVine ( ; born March 10, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft with the 13th overall p ...

, the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and 2-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion. Garson was instrumental in the recruiting efforts for the Bruins, who claimed ESPN’s No. 1 class in both 2008 and 2012. A total of 16 players recruited or coached by Garson have been selected in the NBA draft. Garson spent five seasons at the University of Utah under hall-of-fame coach and mentor, Rick Majerus. Garson served as a graduate assistant, video coordinator and, in his final year, assistant coach for Majerus. The Utes won three

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament four times during Garson’s time there, while amassing a record of 112–47.

International

In the European Maccabi Games 2015, Garson was an assistant coach for the under-18 US men's basketball team.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Scott Garson
on Twitter {{DEFAULTSORT:Garson, Scott 1976 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Los Angeles College men's basketball head coaches in the United States College of Idaho Coyotes men's basketball coaches Guards (basketball) Harvard-Westlake School alumni High school basketball coaches in California People from Calabasas, California People from Tarzana, Los Angeles Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball coaches Sports coaches from Los Angeles UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches University of California, Santa Barbara alumni University of Utah alumni Utah Utes men's basketball coaches Washington University Bears baseball players Washington University Bears men's basketball players Baseball players from Los Angeles Jewish American basketball coaches Jews from California