President Jim Gash and Incoming Director of Athletics Tanner Gardner welcomed Ed Schilling, incoming Pepperdine Men’s Basketball head coach, to Pepperdine on April 4. Multiple people who have worked with Schilling said he is a devoutly faithful man and a tremendous leader, who is more than qualified to be the next head coach.
Schilling has 13 years of experience as an assistant coach at the Division I level, according to Pepperdine Athletics. He previously coached at UMass Amherst, Memphis, UCLA, Indiana and Grand Canyon.
“We looked for a coach who demonstrated exceptional leadership on and off the court [and] who demonstrated the ability to develop players spiritually, physically, socially, and academically ” Gash said. “We looked for a coach who had a winning record of success. We found these qualities more and more in Coach Schilling.”
During his time as an assistant coach, Schilling helped coach his teams to a 304-134 record and eight NCAA appearances — including a Sweet Sixteen and Final Four appearance, according to Pepperdine Athletics. This includes three appearances in the past four seasons.
“Simply put, Coach Schilling is a winner,” Gardner said. “Ultimately, in coach Schilling, we’re getting a basketball coach with decades of professional and collegiate leadership who will propel our Pepperdine program to the next level.”
This is Schilling’s first job as a head coach since he was the head coach for Wright State from 1997-2003, according to Basketball Reference. In this new role, Schilling said his goal is to enhance the lives of his players beyond the basketball court.
“That’s my hope — that we’re not only going to have great success on the court,” Schilling said. “We know that there’s a scoreboard out there for a reason, and I know our livelihood depends on it. But, ultimately, we want to have victories in the lives of these young people we get a chance to work with.”
While at UMass Amherst and with the New Jersey Nets, Schilling coached under John Calipari, incoming University of Arkansas Men’s Basketball head coach, who has a 813-260 record, according to Basketball Reference.
Calipari praised Schilling for his ability to develop his players as athletes and people, Gash said, quoting Calipari.
“Ed Schilling has been a terrific coach, teacher and developer of young players at all levels,” Gash said, quoting Calipari. “His success is centered around his faith and his caring heart. We worked shoulder to shoulder, and I got to see firsthand what a good man and caring coach he is. If my son were playing today, I would want him to play for Ed.”
When it comes to his coaching philosophy, Schilling said he is going to look to the different ways Jesus improved those around him in the Bible. He wants to take the values taught in the Bible and apply them as a coach.
“We’re going to be in prayer, but we’re going to try to take the values biblically and implement them as a coach,” Schilling said. “Sometimes it was aggressive — sometimes it was the arm around — but, regardless, he made everyone better around him, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
During the past three seasons, Pepperdine Men’s Basketball has had an overall record of 29-67, according to Basketball Reference. With the competitiveness of the West Coast Conference, Schilling said the program will improve but not at the cost of what Pepperdine stands for.
“College basketball is somewhat of a business,” Schilling said. “We have to win, and so, at the end of the day, we’ve got to turn the program so that we are successful on the scoreboard without sacrificing any of the values that are so important to this University.”
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