The following Q&A ran in the Spring 2023 Issue of Bruin Blue Magazine.
Q: You’ve been on the job a little under two months. How has the transition been?
A: Just very positive and it starts with the administration and my colleagues in the department. I was told how great this place is and how supportive people would be, and I couldn’t imagine that to be more true. There’s a sense of community and a feeling that people really want good for me and the program. So that has been really cool to see. The team has been phenomenal. It’s a really talented group of players, but also just really hungry group of individuals that want to improve. It’s also nice to have my staff here, obviously. It’s all been pretty seamless. That’s a word I’m going to use a lot. Just how seamless everything has been. Los Angeles it’s pretty much home to me and it’s coming back to a very familiar space. I grew up in our north of here and I’ve always resided not too far from here. I’ve made a lot of transitions in my career and into new spaces and new cities, but again, this is the most seamless one.
Q: Describe your familiarity with UCLA prior to taking the job.
A: This was the university I wanted to attend and eventually play volleyball. I was on campus a ton growing up and even came to several camps here with Al Scates as a high school player. And so there was a familiarity with the campus already. Although it didn’t come to fruition to play here, I competed here a lot as a player in college. It’s hard to not be close to this program if you grew up in Southern California. If you play volleyball while growing up in Southern California, you’re around UCLA volleyball and you’re watching it. I was a fan of the program because that’s where the best volleyball was coming out of. So there is a familiarity to it and a reverence to what’s been done here. And I love that feeling of taking responsibility to something that’s been great for a long time.
Q: You helped the University of San Diego reach the program’s first-ever Final Four. Talk…
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