NORTHRIDGE (CNS) – Cal State Northridge introduced new men’s basketball coach Andy Newman Monday night at a “meet-and-greet” at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
Newman, who coached Cal State San Bernardino to the Division II Final Four last month, was announced as the Matadors’ new coach April 15. He succeeds Trent Johnson, who resigned March 30 after posting a 14-48 record over two seasons, including a 7-25 record in the 2022-23 season, the Matadors’ second-worst record in the past 60 seasons.
Northridge’s only worse record over that span came in the 2017-18 season, when it was 6-24 in Reggie Theus’ final season as coach. The Matadors’ nine victories in the 2014-15 season were vacated because of NCAA penalties related to academic misconduct and impermissible academic benefits for 10 players by a director of basketball operations, making their official record 0-24.
Newman, 48, has pledged “to bring an exciting, fast-paced, team-oriented style of basketball back to the Valley.”
“We will entertain the Matador faithful by lighting up the scoreboard and competing for championships,” Newman said in a statement after his hiring.
Newman inherits a program that last finished above .500 in the 2008-09 season, the second and most recent time it reached the NCAA tournament since becoming a Division I program in the 1990-91 season.
The hiring reunites Newman with Cal State Northridge Athletics Director Shawn Chin-Farrell, who hired him as Cal State San Bernardino’s coach in 2018, when he was the school’s director of athletics.
“Andy Newman’s career is defined by creating a culture that develops young men into champions on and off the court” Chin-Farrell said. “He has won championships on the court everywhere he has been, while ensuring his student-athletes graduate with a degree prepared to be champions in life.”
Newman was 91-30 in four seasons as the Yotes’ coach, including a 31-4 record in the 2022-23 season, when they set school records for victories, surpassing the 28 by the 2001-02 team, and points with 3,094, erasing the previous record of 2,520 set by the 2006-07 team which also made the Final Four.
He has a 206-98 career coaching record, which also includes a 101-50 record in five seasons at Division II University of Texas Permian Basin and a 14-18 record as Cal State Fullerton’s interim coach in the 2012-13 season.
Newman spent 10 seasons as Cal State Fullerton’s lead assistant and one season each as Fresno State’s director of basketball operations and as an assistant coach with the Costa Mesa-based NAIA program Vanguard University and the Saratoga-based community college West Valley College, where he spent the first two seasons of his college playing career.
Newman is a graduate of Azusa Pacific University, where he helped lead the Cougars to a 34-5 record and a berth in 1998 NAIA Final Four. He also played one season at Southern Utah, leading the Thunderbirds in assists and minutes.