Coach Brandon Lincoln

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COACH BRANDON LINCOLN

Coach Brandon Lincoln was named Coach of the Year as a result of leading the varsity boys’ basketball team during a successful season in which the team was the Div 4A CIF Runner-Up and State Div 4 Southern Region Semi-Finalist.

Prior to coaching at PHS, Brandon was a member of the men’s coaching staff at Montana State University for three seasons. Before that, Lincoln coached at his alma mater, the University of Oregon, where he worked as a Men’s Basketball Assistant Conditioning Coach in 2013-14 for the Ducks’ NCAA Tournament team. It was his second tour of duty on the Oregon staff - he previously worked as a Graduate Assistant in 2010-11 and as the program’s Video Coordinator in 2011-12. In between stints at Oregon, Lincoln was the Director of Video Operations at Miami University (Ohio) in 2012-2013.

A combo guard for the University of Oregon from 2003-2006, Lincoln played on an NCAA Tournament team in 2003-2004 and an NIT Final Four squad the next year. Lincoln graduated from Oregon in 2006 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and in 2012 with a Master’s Degree in Education Leadership.

After Oregon, Lincoln played professionally in Germany with the ETB Wohnbau Baskets. He was a 2nd team all-league selection, and he led the club in scoring in back-to-back seasons while leading them to the German ProB championship.

A Portland native, Lincoln was a 2000 State Champion at Jefferson High School. While at Jefferson, he also was a 2002 unanimous All-State and All-City selection, MVP of the Oregon-Washington All-Star Game, and a McDonalds All American Nominee.

You came to PHS from coaching at the collegiate level. What made you decide to coach high school?

After seven years of the college coaching lifestyle, I was burnt out. I wanted to remain in coaching but I wanted to do it on my terms. I always had the goal of becoming a head coach. I’m not sure if/ when that would happen for me at the college level, so I started to put some feelers out for what high school opportunities gave me that challenge in a place I chose to live. The transition has been great for me. Building a program has been a fun and exciting challenge.

What was the adjustment of coaching college level vs. high school level athletes?

When working with young players, maturity is always a big separator between great players and players looking to fulfill their potential. When working with college guys, you are catching them at different stages of their development. Ages 18-23 young men are getting ready to pursue their own life and be released out to the world. Ages 14-18 young men are starting to learn how to work and communicate efficiently, along with the natural growth from progressing from middle school to being ready to function in a high school classroom.

What are the major challenges of coaching at the high school level?

The challenges are educating kids and families on what it takes to be a great player. Lots of kids have the goal to play at a collegiate level but do not understand what it takes and how important decision making is. Getting kids to fully commit is tough because at a high school age kids are discovering how passionate they are about playing basketball. There are some situations where parents want their kids to play more than the kid does, and then others where kids want to play and improve but do not have the support at home. This can be challenging but it is all a part of the process.

What are you most proud of from the success of this last season?

I am proud to see the growth of our young men. I challenge these guys constantly and they have met those challenges. We set a goal and we were right there knocking at the door. Winning CIF would have been great, but I am more proud that our guys found greater confidence in themselves and ultimately changed their own self-perception.

Moving forward, what do you hope to achieve?

I am very motivated to help those young men who have goals to play at the next level. The next box we need to check as a program is to have kids launch from Providence and go on to play collegiately. Not everyone will be able to do it but for those who have the potential, we really want to help achieve those goals. And for the kids who want to play and have a great high school experience, I want to continue to improve to play in more events. Los Angeles is a great location for high school sports, and we here at Providence have great potential to advance our programs.

Were you surprised to be named Coach of the Year? What does that honor mean to you?

I was very surprised. Seeing that we lost to the eventual CIF and State Champion, I assumed that the coach from Ribet would have gotten the award. The coach from Ribet did a great job. I am very grateful to receive the award, I give a lot of credit to our players and my assistant coaches. I couldn't have done it without their commitment.

Your life seemingly revolves around basketball. What other interests/hobbies do you have?

I am pretty low key for the most part. I play some video games when I get time. Call of Duty, NBA2k, and Madden are my games. Other than that, I enjoy going to the movies. I’m a big fan of all of the Marvel movies.

You’re a man of few words. What might surprise people about you?

I am more friendly than I appear! I grew up in Portland. I used to play the alto and barry sax, I started to learn the bass clarinet before I stopped playing. I taught myself how to cut hair during my journeyman days. And here’s something weird: I have developed a fascination for palm trees since moving to SoCal!