Former NBA star Mike Bibby named head coach at Sacramento State

Mike Bibby, a 14-year NBA veteran and former Sacramento Kings star, has been named the new men's basketball head coach atSacramento State, the school announced Tuesday.

Bibby replaces Michael Czepil, who served as interim head coach for the 2024-25 season.

"I'm ecstatic to announce Mike Bibby as the new head coach of Sacramento State men's basketball, and welcome him back to the community of Sacramento," athletic director Mark Orr said in a statement. "Mike will recruit talented student-athletes and develop a team culture that embodies success both on and off the court. I am convinced that Mike will pour every ounce of his energy into Sacramento State and engage the entire Sacramento region. I could not be more excited about the future of our program."

Bibby said he is excited to return to the city where he experienced much of his professional success as a member of the Kings.

"It's a second home for me," Bibby said. "It's a storybook, not ending, but a storybook story of coming back to Sacramento for basketball purposes and instead of playing now I'll be coaching and do my best to change this program around and turn it into a winning program."

Bibby is already in the process of putting together a staff and was hired at the same time the NCAA transfer portal opened. Bibby said he will target the portal aggressively in his first season to improve the roster with players who will fit his style of playing a fast-paced game featuring an aggressive, pressure defense.

"We're going to get kids that will want to come play and want to come win," he said.

Bibby's agent, Tyler Glass of CSE Talent, negotiated the agreement with school officials in recent days, sources told ESPN.

The university is slated to open a new basketball facility on campus next fall. Sacramento State president Luke Wood, an alum and the youngest president ever appointed in the California State University system, has been aggressive in his approach with the athletic programs -- and the hiring of Bibby continues that.

Bibby previously spent six years as a coach at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, where he played on the school's first state championship team as a student in 1996 before competing for two seasons at the University of Arizona. He led theWildcatsto the 1997 NCAA championship as a freshman.

Bibby was drafted by the Vancouver Grizzlies the next year. He played for several teams over his NBA career from 1998 to 2012, averaging 14.7 points, 5.5 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 1,001 games. His most successful NBA stint came with the Kings from 2001 to 2008, which included one Western Conference finals berth, two West semifinal runs and averages of 17.6 points, 5.4 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 476 regular-season games.

As a high school coach, Bibby guided Shadow Mountain to four consecutive state championships, winning a total of five over his run from 2013 to 2019.

Sacramento State went 7-25 this season under Czepil, who was promoted last spring after David Patrick left to take a job as associate head coach at LSU.

The Hornets had gone 28-42 in two seasons under Patrick, and the program has never made an NCAA tournament since moving up to Division I in 1991-92. The Hornets have posted a winning record only twice since then, going 16-14 in 2019-20 and 21-12 in 2014-15.

"I have a lot of confidence in myself and a lot of confidence in my staff," Bibby said. "I told Mark and Luke, 'I'm going to turn this thing around.' I'm not saying we're going to go 27-0 or whatever it is. But there's going to be changes that come with this. We're going to have guys that play hard and that play for each other. We're headed for that NCAA tournament bid."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.br/]