Former Sacramento Kings legend Mike Bibby was named the program’s 17th head men’s basketball coach in program history on March 25, 2025. He will enter his second season with the Hornets in 2026-27.
Bibby, who spent half of his 14-year NBA career with the Sacramento Kings, returned to the city where he became a fan favorite while helping the Kings to multiple playoff appearances in the early 2000s. A first team all-American, Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, Bibby helped Arizona to a 1997 NCAA national championship.
In his first season with the Hornets (2025-26), Sacramento State went 10-4 at home and consistently sold out Hornet Pavilion. In fact, the 10 home victories were the most for the program since the 2019-20 season, and the average attendance of 2,758 per home game set a school record.
Bibby’s up-tempo offense finished with 2,408 points, and an average of 77.7 points per contest - both the top marks in the Hornets’ Div. I era (1991-pres.). In addition, the team’s aggressiveness led to 595 made free throws (easily the most in the team’s Div. I era, second in program history), and a school-record 78% shooting from the free throw line. Also, a pair of Hornet teammates - Prophet Johnson (18.2 ppg) and Mikey Williams (17.1 ppg) - averaged better than 17 points in the same season for the first time in 38 years.
Academically, the team thrived as a program-record seven Hornets were named to the Big Sky all-academic team, and 12 of the team’s 15 players had 3.0 or better grade point averages.
Prior to Sacramento State, Bibby had assistant coaching stops with the Puerto Rican National Team, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies summer league teams, and the NBA G-League Ignite. He coached 25 players who received collegiate scholarships during his time as head coach at Shadow Mountain High School (2014-19) in Phoenix, Ariz. During his six seasons at Shadow Mountain (five as head coach), he coached the team to five state championships, a 157-21 overall record, a 72-game winning streak, and a six-year home winning streak.
As an NBA player, Bibby appeared in over 1,000 career games, finishing with averages of 14.7 points, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals during a 14-year run that began in 1998 with the Vancouver Grizzlies, and concluded in 2012 with the New York Knicks. He averaged better than 13 points in each of his first 11 seasons, including a seven-year stint with the Sacramento Kings (2001-08).
During those seven seasons, he averaged 17.6 points and helped the Kings to the franchise’s most successful era. That included three straight Western Conference semifinal appearances, and a conference final in 2002. It was Bibby that hit the game winner in Game 5 of the 2002 conference final to give the Kings a 3-2 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers. Among franchise leaders, he remains fifth in 3-pointers made (775), sixth in assists (2,580) and seventh in steals (584).
A native of Phoenix, Bibby spent two highly decorated seasons at Arizona (1996-98), where he helped the program to its lone national championship in 1997. He was the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 1997, and a consensus first team All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1998 after averaging 17.2 points, 5.7 assists and 2.4 steals. He had his No. 10 jersey retired by Arizona.
After his senior season at Shadow Mountain High School in 1996, he was named Mr. Basketball USA, McDonald’s All-American and first team All-American.
Bibby graduated with a bachelor’s degree (multidisciplinary studies) from UNLV in 2017. He and his wife, Darcy, have four children - Michael, Janae, Mia and Nylah.
