By Davis Ramage
It was announced today that former San Diego State men’s basketball assistant coach Chris Acker was hired as the next head coach of the LBSU men’s basketball team.
“My family and I are thrilled to be part of the Long Beach State community and we look forward to developing an elite basketball program the city of Long Beach will be proud of,” Acker said in a statement.
Acker’s last five years were spent at SDSU as an assistant coach where he was part of a team that reached the NCAA tournament each of the last four years and the national championship in 2023.
He experienced no shortage of winning in his time with the Aztecs as they went 134-34 overall in his time there and reached the Sweet 16 this season but were knocked out by the tournament favorite UConn Huskies.
After a having relatively steady roster at SDSU, Acker will face the opposite at The Beach where he will be challenged with replacing all six of The Beach’s top scorers who accounted for a total of 70 points a game.
Senior guards Marcus Tsohonis and Messiah Thompson have zero years of eligibility remaining while multiple Long Beach State players reportedly entered the transfer portal.
This includes Junior guard Jadon Jones, junior forwards Aboubacar and Lassina Traore and sophomore guard AJ George.
Executive Director of Athletics Bobby Smitheran’s ties with Acker run deep as they were at SDSU together for four years, giving the two a prior relationship that will be key in the rebuild of the men’s basketball program.
“Our search committee placed a premium on identifying a candidate with a championship pedigree, a desire to support the holistic development of the young men in our basketball program and a connection to the tremendous community of Long Beach,” Smitheran said in a statement. “Chris Acker exemplifies all of those qualities.”
“His brand of leadership is exactly what is needed for the next era of Beach Basketball,” Smitheran said. “He is passionate, intentional, gritty, and a man of great integrity, and we look forward to seeing what he can build in the next chapter of this storied program.”
Acker will be forced to be active in the transfer portal as The Beach prepares to defend their Big West Tournament title in the 2024-2025 season.
