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On Friday April 15 at Phoenix College in Phoenix, AZ Area Codes Basketball will be hosting the Phoenix Spring Showcase Coaches Clinic from 6pm-8pm in the Gymnasium. This, the 4^th Annual Phoenix Spring Showcase will have its 1^st Annual Coaches Clinic for this event. “I thought that it would be great to add this dimension to the event” says event director Chad Groth “I felt that it would be great to have something for the coaches as well as the players”. There will be 4 coaches headlining the clinic, sharing their years of experience and knowledge with coaches from all levels. Let’s take an in-depth look at the 4 coaches that will be participating in the 1^st Annual Area Codes Basketball PHOENIX SPRING SHOWCASE Coaches Clinic, enjoy.

Mike Adrius Head Men’s Basketball Coach Northern Arizona University

Mike Adras was an assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara from 1982-1983 was an assistant to coach at San Jose State from 1983-1984. Adras then took an assistant coaching job at Las Vegas high school power Bishop Gorman from 1984-1986 and following the 86 season Adras was promoted to head coach of Bishop Gorman where was head coach from 1986-1991 then Adras took his coaching expertise to Drake University in Iowa where he was an assistant through the 1991-1992 season. Adras then landed an assistant coaching position at Northern Arizona University in 1992-1999 and to start the 99 season Adras excepted the head men’s basketball coaching position at Northern Arizona University where Adras has been the head coach ever since. Mike Adras led NAU to 1 Big Sky tournament Championship (2000) and 1 Big Sky regular season Championship (2006), Mike Adras was also Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2006.

Matt Gordan Head Mean’s Coach Phoenix College

After 7 seasons as the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Phoenix College, Matt Gordon has done an outstanding job at building a national junior college contender. Matt, a former NCAA Division I assistant Coach, came to Phoenix after serving as the Director of Operations for Double Pump Inc. Gordon served as the Director of Player Development and assisted in recruiting in the West Coast Conference at the University Of Portland from 2001-2003. He also spent a year at Dominican University where he helped guide the Penguins to a 12-game increase in victories from the previous year and a spot in the league championship game. Gordon spent a year at Cal State Northridge where he was part of a coaching staff that helped lead the Matadors to their first 20 win season before going to Dominican University. Gordon graduated from UCLA where he was a Student Assistant for four years. During Gordan’s tenure at UCLA, the Bruins went to four straight NCAA tournaments, reaching the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen in twice.

Marvin Minzies Head Men’s Coach New Mexico State University

Marvin Minzies comes to New Mexico State University with 14 years of coaching experience from high school (Hamilton HS in California) to college (San Diego State University). Let’s take a look at Marvin Menzies coaching career. Here’s a look at Marvin Menzies extensive coaching background/experience.

Hamilton HS Head Coach (California) 1983-1991

Santa Monica Community College (Assistant) 1991-1993, 1995-1996 & 1997-1999

Santa Monica Community College (Head Coach) 1994-1995

Sacramento State (Assistant Coach) 1996-1997

San Diego State (Assistant Coach) 1999-2003

USC (Assistant Coach) 2003-2004

UNLV (Assistant Coach) 2004-2005

Louisville (Assistant Coach) 2005-2007 Overall record at New Mexico State  

New Mexico State University (Head Coach) 2007-Present

Overall record at New Mexico State as Head Coach 65-47

Dave Grace Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach Oregon State University

Let’s take a look at Dave grace’s college coaching experience.

David Grace has been an assistant coach with the Oregon State men's basketball program for the past 3 seasons. In his first two seasons at Oregon State, Grace has helped lead the Beavers to their most wins since the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons and two trips to the College Basketball Invitational, including a 5-1 run in the tournament in 2008-09 that gave the Beavers the national championship. Grace has also been very instrumental in bringing two nationally-ranked recruiting classes to Oregon State. Known for his relentless work ethic and inspirational leadership, Grace moved up through the high school and college coaching ranks after retiring with 20 years of active duty service in the US Air Force where Grace served in Operation Desert Storm. Prior to Oregon State, Grace served as the top assistant coach at the University of San Francisco for one season. Grace broke into the college coaching ranks as an assistant coach at Sacramento State University.

Here’s a look at Dave Grace’s high school coaching experience. 

Known for his relentless work ethic and high end coaching strategies, Grace moved up through the high school and college coaching ranks starting in the high school ranks at Phoenix Trevor Browne as an assistant coach under then head coach Mike Ellsworth. During the 2004-05 season, Grace was hired as the head coach at South Mountain High School in Phoenix, Ariz., where he led the Jaguars to a 5A Division II state championship in his second year. Grace started coaching basketball with Boo Williams' AAU program in Hampton, Va. and later received an assignment to Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, Ariz. Grace then quickly established himself in the local basketball community as a top notch coach when he became head coach of the Arizona Slam 17U squad, an Adidas program founded by Jeff Meadows in 1999. Grace then became the co-founder of the Arizona Magic AAU program with Anthony Ray and Etop Udo Ema in 2002 where Grace had great success.

Kevin O’Niel Men’s Head Basketball Coach USC

Kevin O'Neill's college coaching experience is very extensive starting at North Country Community College where Kevin coached 2 seasons as Head Coach (1980-1982), Marycrest College, Iowa (1982-1983), Delaware as assistant (1983-1985), Tulsa as an assistant (1985-1986), Arizona as an assistant (1986-1989), Marquette as an assistant (1989-1994), Tennessee (1994-1997), Northwestern (1997-2000), Arizona as Head Coach(2007-2008) and USC as Head Coach(2009-present).

Kevin O’Niel also has a pretty extensive NBA background as an assistant; Kevin coached under Jeff Van Gundy with the New York Knicks in 2000. In 2001, Kevin was an assistant to Rick Carlise with the Detroit Pistons. In 2003 Kevin was named Head Coach with the Toronto Raptors where Kevin coached a full season. In 2004 Kevin was named assistant coach once again under Rick Carlise with the Indiana Pacers where Kevin coached a season. In 2008, Kevin was hired as an assistant coach and special assistant to the GM of the Memphis Grizzlies where Kevin was an assistant for a full season.

Well, there you have it, 4 very good, very experienced college coaches that will be sharing their expertise with Arizona basketball community. If you are in the Phoenix metro area this Friday and you have a need to gain basketball coaching knowledge, I strongly suggest that you log on to areacodesbasketball.com and register for the 1^st Annual Phoenix Spring Showcase’s Coaching Clinic. Walk ups will not be accepted.