Men's Basketball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
With focus honed on floor coaching, game planning and scouting and the development of Cal Poly’s backcourt, Sam Kirby is in his seventh season as an assistant with the Mustang men’s basketball team and third year as the program’s recruiting coordinator.
Kirby’s influence on Cal Poly’s guard play has been substantial with the Mustangs leading all NCAA Division I programs during the previous five seasons with just 9.62 turnovers committed per game. Additionally, Cal Poly has led the Big West Conference during the previous six years with a combined 1.24-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Individually under Kirby, 2017 All-Big West second team selection Ridge Shipley graduated in May ranked among the top 10 players in program history for assists and appearances; guard Reese Morgan graduated in 2016 ranked second in program history with an 86.7 percent free throw mark; guard Maliik Love graduated in 2015 ranked second all-time with 125 career appearances and guard Jamal Johnson graduated in 2014 as the program's all-time appearances leader (128) while ranking seventh with 303 assists. During his career, All-Big West selection Dylan Royer finished fifth (2011-12) and 18th (2012-13) in three-point percentage among more than 4,000 Division I shooters.
Cal Poly's backcourt strength has contributed directly to the program's overall success with the Mustangs capturing the program's first Big West Conference championship in 2014 and reaching the NCAA Tournament second round.
“Sam continues to develop into a top-level trainer, recruiter and game-day coach,” said Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero, who coached Kirby at Seattle University during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, the latter year resulting in a 20-9 overall record, a Great Northwest Athletic Conference title and the program's first NCAA Division II Tournament berth in 38 years. “Sam's feel for the game as well as our young players is excellent. I was fortunate to coach him as a player and even more fortunate to have him as my assistant.”
Kirby arrived at Cal Poly following a one-season stint at Cañada College (Redwood City, Calif.) where he was involved in all aspects of on-court coaching, strength and conditioning, recruiting and perimeter player development in helping the Colts to a 20-6 overall record, a second-place finish in the Coast Conference with an 8-4 mark and a final No. 7 ranking in the California Community College Athletic Association coaches poll. Kirby also spent two seasons as an assistant at Shoreline Community College (2008-10) in Seattle.
A Sacramento native, Kirby served as a student assistant coach at Seattle during the 2007-08 campaign while completing a bachelor's degree in liberal studies with a minor in psychology. An All-Bay Valley Conference selection at San Joaquin Delta College (2003-05), Kirby helped the Mustangs to a 30-2 record during the 2004-05 season and a berth in the semifinals of that year's CCCAA state championships. A graduate of Sacramento's Foothill HS, Kirby assisted the program to the 2003 California Interscholastic Federation Division III state championship and a 36-2 record.
Kirby and wife, Aspen, reside in Pismo Beach with their two-year-old son, Sam Kirby III.
