Coach Dave Smart continues to architect his staff, today sharing that Garrett Bridges has joined the Tigers program as Assistant Coach. Bridges comes to Pacific from North Carolina Central (MEAC conference) where he was on staff since 2019, promoted to Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator in 2022. Prior to that Bridges worked as Graduate Assistant under Kelvin Sampson at Houston for three seasons beginning in 2016.
Bridges has paid his dues in coaching, beginning his career as an Assistant at Walter Williams High in Burlington, North Carolina. With excellent pedigree highlighted by his time with the Cougars, Bridges is an excellent complement to Smart’s new staff at Pacific, joining Clay Wilson (Texas Tech) and Myke Scholl (Long Beach State). Expect one more hire, possibly an international coach to be announced in the coming days.
Bridges came highly regarded by Houston Assistant Coach K.C. “Kade” Beard, who Coach Smart worked closely with during his stint on Canada’s National team staff under Jay Triano that included Kelvin Sampson. In fact, one of Sampson’s first moves upon taking the Houston job in 2014 was to hire Beard and then later Bridges.
More on this story as information becomes available. Welcome to Pacific, Coach Bridges !
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Welcome aboard, Garrett Bridges - we are excited to have you at Pacific!