By It was a warm welcome for newly hired women’s basketball coach Jeff Cammon on Thursday morning.
Long Beach State Athletics Director Andy Fee welcomed Cammon at the introductory press conference in the Ukleja room of the Walter Pyramid. Before a full crowd, Fee spoke highly of his first hire in the Athletics Department.
“We’re just thrilled, anytime you can bring back someone of such high character, quality, and coaching ability, it’s a great day,” Fee said. “It was an arduous process, we worked very quickly and thanks again to President Conoley for helping us move so quickly to identify the right fit, the right person and the right coach to lead our program.”
Cammon spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Long Beach State before moving on to the Pac-12 with Cal and most recently Colorado. Fee recognized his past with the Beach how that stood out during the interview process.
“Jeff understands the culture having previously worked on staff here,” Fee said. “He knows what the values are and he understands this community. He is a true leader and that’s what we want.”
After Fee’s introduction, Cammon came to the podium both excited and nervous, stating that he was so happy it was hard to put all of his words together.
“To be able to come back here and be the head coach, it’s just surreal,” Cammon said. “It’s important for me to put kids in the position to develop and also prepare for life. I’m Andy [Fee]’s first hire so he’s putting a lot of trust and faith in me. I appreciate that and I want to let him know I won’t let him down.”
After settling into the press conference, Cammon talked about the need to fill out his coaching staff and tackling the recruiting process.
“I already have some coaches in mind, nothing is solidified yet but things should happen in the next couple weeks as far as the staff,” Cammon said.
When asked what he looks for in a coaching staff he responded, “good people, high character and qualified. People that can be role models and mentors to our student athletes is very important.”
As far as the incoming class and future recruits for the women’s basketball program, Cammon would like to establish a better connection with talented local players.
“I definitely want to keep local kids at home if they are the right fit for Long Beach State. I want to out-recruit everyone in our conference and even USC and UCLA,” Cammon said. “It’s not necessarily the most talented kid, it’s the right kid for Long Beach State women’s basketball.”
Cammon and the Beach women’s basketball program are back and ready to improve on a successful 2016-2017 season that ended in a hard fought NCAA Tournament loss at Oregon State.
“I’m really excited about this, I’m really excited to take it to the next level,” Cammon said. “You guys are going to see a great brand of basketball, kids playing hard and dictating the game on both ends of the floor. You’re going to be proud to see these girls play.”
