Brandon Laird, who has 20 years of coaching experience under his belt, completed his ninth season as Sacramento State’s associate head coach in 2020-21, and 10th as a member of the Hornet coaching staff (assistant coach in 2011-12). He will serve as the interim head coach in 2021-22 after head coach Brian Katz retired on Nov. 5.
Laird had been the program’s recruiting coordinator while also assisting with on-floor coaching, day-to-day player administration, scouting, academics, player development, compliance and offseason workouts.
The Hornets have shown progress since Laird came aboard as evidence by the team improving its conference win total each of his first four years with the program, culminating in the 2014-15 squad posting a 21-12 overall record, a 13-5 mark in the Big Sky Conference, the team’s first postseason appearance in the Div. I era (1991-pres.), and the program’s first postseason victory in 53 years.
Sacramento State has also won at least 13 games seven times in the last nine years, the first time that has happened since the program accomplished the feat seven straight years from 1966-73. In addition, the Hornets have won at least one Big Sky Tournament game in five of the last seven years (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020). Prior to 2015, the program had won just two Big Sky Tournament games in its first 18 years in the conference.
One of those Big Sky Tournament wins came during the 2019-20 season when the team finished 16-14 overall and 8-12 in the Big Sky. The Hornets won their first round tournament game over Weber State, before their quarterfinal game against Eastern Washington (and the rest of the tournament) was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 16 wins were the second most in the program’s Div. I era (1991-pres.), and the team finished with an overall record above the .500 mark for just the second time in the Div. I era. In addition, the Hornets’ defense ranked fifth in the nation (among 350 Div. I playing schools) and first in the Big Sky, allowing just 59.7 points per game. That was the best mark for the program since the 1962-63 season. Also, the program’s +3.8 rebounding margin per game was the best mark since the 1975-76 season.
The Hornets have also established a homecourt advantage that has seen the program post a 82-38 combined record (.683 winning percentage) inside the Nest since the beginning of the 2012-13 season. Also, during that time, the team is 51-31 (.622) at home against conference competition.
The Hornets’ overall record of 21-12 during the 2014-15 season marked the first time in the Div. I era that Sacramento State finished above the .500 mark, and first time since the 1988-89 season. In addition, the 21 wins tied for second most in program history (1948-pres.), and the 13 conference victories were the most in school history (regardless of conference). All of this from a program that had entered the 2014-15 season with just three winning seasons in the previous 38 years.
After reaching the semifinal round of the 2015 Big Sky Tournament, the Hornets made an appearance in the CIT Postseason Tournament, marking the first time the program had qualified for a postseason event since the 1988 NCAA Div. II Tournament, and just the fifth postseason appearance in school history. Sacramento State’s 73-66 victory at Portland in the first round of the CIT marked the first time in 53 years the Hornets had won a postseason game.
The Hornets were ranked in the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Poll for the first time in school history (ranking as high as 14th), and the team finished just one game back of first place in the Big Sky standings, narrowly missing out on the program’s first conference championship since 1977.
Laird also helped coach guard Mikh McKinney, who was named honorable mention All-America, first team all-District 6, and the Big Sky MVP in 2015. McKinney became the first player in the Div. I era to receive all three of those awards, and just the fourth player in school history to earn All-America honors.
Off the court, the Hornets have excelled in the classroom during Laird’s tenure. In fact, as of May of 2020, the Hornets were the only men’s basketball team from a public school in the state of California to earn NCAA Public Recognition honors. The award is given annually to institutions for having Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores that rank among the top 10 percent nationally. Not only are the Hornets the only public school in the state to achieve the award, they received the honor four straight years (2017-20).
In addition, the Hornets have a team overall grade point average of 3.001. Prior to 2014, the men’s basketball program had never posted a 3.0 gpa during any semester in school history.
Perhaps the most impressive of the academic accolades - of the 36 Hornets that have expired their eligibility during Laird’s tenure, 35 have graduated. Five Hornets - Brandon Davis, Ethan Esposito, William FitzPatrick, Bryce Fowler and Spencer Monteiro - graduated in the spring of 2021.
The program showed signs of taking off in 2013-14 when the Hornets not only posted a then school-record 10 conference wins, the team also clinched a Big Sky Tournament berth for the first time since 2006 and won 11 home games. One of the season’s highlights included Dylan Garrity’s 75-foot shot at the buzzer to defeat Weber State, and instantly gain national exposure for the program. Video of the shot went viral and was named the No. 1 play on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays that evening.
Prior to Sacramento State, Laird spent two years (2009-11) as an assistant at UC Davis where he worked with the guards and assisted in recruiting, scouting and on-floor coaching. In 2009-10, he helped coach the Aggies to 14 overall wins and eight Big West Conference victories.
Before arriving at UC Davis, Laird spent three years as head coach at Menlo College (2006-09). He led the Oaks to 18 victories in 2007-08, which were the most for the program since 1990. That team also won a school-record tying nine games in a row, won the Cal-Pac Conference Tournament and advanced to the NAIA national tournament for the third time in school history. Menlo also finished that season with a school-record 13 conference wins and a No. 29 national ranking.
Prior to becoming head coach, the Sacramento native spent three years as an assistant with Menlo (2003-06) where he helped rebuild a program that went 4-22 his first season to 17-11 in his third year. Also during his tenure as assistant, the Oaks defeated a pair of Div. II programs, and his recruiting efforts landed six high school players and four junior college players prior to the 2004-05 season.
His first collegiate coaching experience took place at UC Davis where Laird served on the staff during the 2002-03 season. He spent the previous year (2001-02) as an assistant at his high school alma mater (El Camino).
A graduate of UC Davis, Laird played four seasons with the Aggies (1997-01). During his four-year tenure, he appeared in 85 games and helped the Aggies to a combined record of 93-24, including a 31-2 mark in 1997-98 when they captured the Division II national title. He was the recipient of the Captain’s Award (voted on by teammates) following the 2000-01 season.
Laird graduated from UC Davis in 2001 with a degree in managerial economics and then added a master’s degree in 2005 from the United States Sports Academy.
Laird and his wife, Sarah, currently live in Sacramento. They welcomed their first child, son Nixon, in November of 2019.
