ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT STAFF SHANE BESEDICK
CHRIS CARLSON
KENNY SIMPSON
Assistant Athletic Trainer 4th Year Long Beach State ’08
Associate Athletic Director 4th Year UC Santa Barbara, ’93
Equipment Manager 4th Year N.C. State ’07
Shane Besedick has entered his fourth season working at UCLA as the men’s basketball program’s athletic trainer. In his current role with the men’s basketball team, Besedick handles all day-to-day athletic training responsibilities and oversees multiple student athletic trainers. He arrived at UCLA in Oct. 2014 from Pepperdine, where he served for three years as an assistant athletic trainer. While at Pepperdine, he worked with the men’s basketball team, as well as the men’s tennis and women’s swimming and diving programs. He also oversaw Pepperdine’s student athletic training program. Prior to his time at Pepperdine, Besedick was a graduate intern athletic trainer at the University of California, Berkeley, where he assisted the baseball, women’s soccer and men’s water polo teams. He accompanied the Golden Bears’ baseball program to the College World Series in 2011. A native of Los Angeles, Besedick graduated from Long Beach State in 2008 with a bachelor’s of science degree in kinesiology. He earned a master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion from California University of Pennsylvania in 2010.
JOHN P. DiFIORI, MD, FACSM Team Physician 24th Year Franklin & Marshall, ’85 Dr. DiFiori has been a team physician for UCLA’s Athletic Department for 23 years. He currently serves as team physician for the football and men’s basketball programs. He is also a Professor and Chief in the Division of Sports Medicine of the Department of Family Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He attained his board certifications in Family Medicine in 1992 and in Sports Medicine in 1995. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall in 1985, Dr. DiFiori received his medical degree from Temple University in 1989. He completed a residency in Family Medicine at Lancaster General Hospital in Lancaster, Pa., in 1992. After completing his fellowship training in Sports Medicine at UCLA in 1994, he accepted a faculty position with the UCLA Department of Family Medicine. He was appointed Chief of the Division of Sports Medicine in 2002. Dr. DiFiori serves as a medical consultant for the NHL Players Association and is a member of the USA Gymnastics physician referral network. He has served as a U.S. team physician for several international competitions including the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. In addition, he has served as a physician for the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and for USA Basketball.
BRIANA WALKER Staff Associate 4th Year Florida State, ’09 Briana Walker enters her four season working with the UCLA men’s basketball team as the program’s staff associate. Her primary responsibilities include office management and day-to-day administrative responsibilities for head coach Steve Alford and his coaching staff. Prior to joining the basketball staff, she served as an academic mentor in the UCLA Academic and Student Services office during the 2013-14 school year. Walker also worked at Pepperdine University’s School of Law as the Faculty and Class Support Manager. A former cross-country and track and field student-athlete at Florida State, Walker graduated from the university in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a concentration in African-American studies. In 2012, she earned her master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Florida State. In addition, she worked in the human resources department at Pepperdine University while completing her graduate degree coursework. Born in San Diego, Walker had several “hometowns” growing up, as her father served in the U.S. military for 25 years. As a youngster, she spent time living in southern California, Florida, Hawaii, Washington and Virginia. Walker prepped at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, Calif., prior to attending Florida State.
Chris Carlson enters his fourth year as an Associate Athletic Director at UCLA. In this role, he provides oversight and direction of the men’s basketball program and is responsible for the management and budget of men’s basketball related activity. He also oversees the men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s golf and women’s golf programs. This year marks Carlson’s eighth season working at UCLA, having served as Director of Operations for men’s basketball from 200407. He returned to UCLA in October 2013 after having spent the 2012-13 academic year as Associate Commissioner of the West Coast Conference. Carlson served as the head men’s basketball coach at UC San Diego for six seasons (2007-08 through 2012-13), helping the Tritons make three postseason appearances. He made an immediate impact at UCSD in 2007-08, leading the Tritons to an 18-12 overall record, the program’s best record since 1998-99. That season, UC San Diego captured the program’s first-ever CCAA Tournament title before earning a No. 8 seed in its first NCAA Tournament appearance at the Division II level. His team posted a 17-11 mark in 2008-09 before earning a No. 4 seed in that season’s conference tournament.
Kenny Simpson enters his fourth season working with UCLA’s equipment staff after having served in a similar capacity at Elon University. Simpson is the department contact for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Prior to arriving at UCLA, Simpson spent the previous eight years working at Elon University, having started at the school as an assistant equipment manager in August 2007. A graduate of North Carolina State University, Simpson was promoted to head athletic facilities and equipment manager at Elon in 2008. Among his primary responsibilities included overseeing day-to-day equipment operations of the athletics department. While at Elon, Simpson worked with the football program, as well as the baseball, softball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer and lacrosse teams. Following his graduation from N.C. State in 2004, Simpson spent time working as an intern for the Miami Dolphins. In addition, he served in the equipment department at UNC Pembroke while the university ushered in a football program. While at UNC Pembroke, Simpson oversaw all equipment operations relating to the team’s first-ever training camp and football season.
A San Diego native, Carlson was part of two Final Four teams at UCLA in 2006 and 2007. Prior to joining the Bruins in 2004, he served as Director of Operations for the men’s basketball program at the University of Pittsburgh (2001-02, 2002-03). Prior to that, he spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona (1999-01).
SCOTT PALANJIAN
A 1993 graduate of UC Santa Barbara, where he received his bachelor’s degree in history, Carlson coached at UCSB from 199498. Carlson and his wife, Karen, have two sons, Nicklas and Charlie.
Scott Palanjian enters his second season working at UCLA as the Director of Marketing for the men’s basketball team.
VERONICA RODRIGUEZ-MORA Academic Coordinator 4th Year NYU, ’02 Veronica Rodriguez-Mora arrived at UCLA in Sept. 2014 and serves as the academic coordaintor and learning specialist for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Rodriguez-Mora also serves as the coordinator for the intern training program and the liaison for the degree completion program. Prior to working at UCLA, Rodriguez-Mora worked as an educator in the New York City public school system for 13 years. During the latter half of her teaching career, she was an adjunct instructor in the area of teacher preparation at New York University in the School of Education. She also served as an educational consultant for principals aspiring to create new public schools in NYC. Rodriguez-Mora earned her B.S. in special education K-21 in 2002 and a Master’s degree in biology education 7-12 in 2007 from New York University.
ALEX TIMIRAOS Athletic Communications 12th Year Boston College ’06 Alex Timiraos enters his 12th year working in the UCLA athletic communications office, his sixth season as the primary contact for the men’s basketball team. Timiraos oversees all aspects of media relations with the men’s basketball program, handling day-today interview and credential requests, editing various publications (including the information guide) and overseeing the team’s social media accounts. He also serves as the media contact for the women’s rowing program. Timiraos served as the primary contact for the baseball and men’s and women’s water polo teams during his first six years at UCLA. He accompanied the UCLA baseball team to the College World Series in 2010 and 2012. Prior to UCLA, Timiraos spent his four undergraduate years (2003-06) working as a student assistant in the athletic media relations office at Boston College. A lifelong Los Angeles resident, Timiraos graduated from Boston College in May 2006, earning a bachelor of arts degree in communication.
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Marketing & Promotions 2nd Year Maryland ’00
Palanjian arrived at UCLA in Nov. 2016 after spending over three years at the University of North Carolina. He began as an Assistant Director of Marketing at UNC in July 2013 and was later promoted to Director of Marketing, overseeing all promotional efforts for the football, baseball and women’s basketball programs. In addition, he served as the Assistant Director of Fan Development and Revenue Generation in the athletic department at the University of Central Florida for one yaer. He earned a master’s degree in sport management in May 2012 from UNC, where he hqad served as a sports marketing graduate assistant. Prior to graduate school, Palanjian worked for 10 years in various marketing, sales and public relations roles including stints with HBO, the Washington Wizards, the XFL Football League and AnheuserBusch. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Palanjian was a football student-athlete at Wake Forest before earning a bachelor of arts degree in communication from the University of Maryland in 2000.