Brian Katz steps down as Sacramento State men’s basketball coach. Here’s why
Brian Katz can sleep in, at last. Take the alarm clock and toss it over the back fence.
When we spoke by phone Friday afternoon, Katz sounded at peace with his decision to retire as men’s basketball coach at Sacramento State, citing health concerns. He is not resigning. He is not burned out. He is retiring from a grind that has been equal parts rewarding and taxing on the mind, body and soul.
Katz stepped away after 14 seasons, days before the season opener, and he bowed out as the winningest Division I coach in program history. He was always reflective, emotional, insightful and funny in all of our chats over more than 25 years.
Longtime assistant coach Brandon Laird will coach this season on an interim basis.
“I’m not dying,” Katz said with a laugh. “I’m retiring. My health won’t let me coach any more. I have had an on-going health issue for the last two-and-half years that I have to take care of, any my physician recommended that me retiring from coaching would be good for me. I really haven’t said much about it to many people because I don’t want to rattle anyone who cares about me. I don’t want people to worry. I’m not sure if I’ll get used to this.”
That includes extra sleep time. Katz is an early riser. He regularly arrived at his Sac State office, coffee in hand, before the sun rose, before the birds woke up and not long after custodians cleaned the place. Katz poured himself into this because that’s what Katz does.
He is a local product, a graduate of Casa Roble High School and a 1980 graduate of Sac State. No one worked harder or cared more. He has earned his chance to exhale. He will not get back into coaching, but he may get into media work, breaking down games. And he’ll see the sun rise out his own window as he and wife Lori figure out what life has in store now. Road trips for one. And they have five adult children.
“We’re a little upset that we don’t have any grandchildren yet,” Katz said with more laughter. “It’ll be weird not having that alarm go off at 4 every morning, or me waking up at 3:50. For 45 years in coaching, starting when I was in 7th grade, I’ve gone like heck and tried to give every single ounce of energy to every conversation with players and staff, and I gave every bit of effort in every practice, every meeting, every game - from personal sit-down conversations, to grades, to life issues, to working on your jumper.”
As for media work, Katz said, “People tell me, ‘You’re such a natural!’ Well, it’s talking basketball. I love that. If you ask me about economics, I’ll stutter. Or if the topic is global warming or foreign policy, I’d be nervous.”
Katz didn’t win a row of conference championships, but that’s not entirely on him. Sac State last won a conference crown in men’s basketball in 1977. That Sac State has the poorest basketball facilities of all the Division I programs in the country served as a constant hurdle in recruiting, but the Katz charm landed a lot of gems. His teams competed. They represented themselves well, and they graduated. Ninety eight percent of Katz’s players graduated over 14 seasons. What’s more, Sac State was the only public school in California to earn NCAA Public Recognition honors for academic excellence. The team accomplished the feat four straight years (2017-20).
That’s all a striking reflection on Katz’s character and message that for as much fun as it is to fire up 3-pointers or to rebound, the goal is to graduate.
“Very proud of that,” Katz said. “Every decision I made at Sac State was based on what’s in the best interest of the player, and we lived by that. You can’t look a kid in the eye and expect him to respect you, to play hard for you and to love you if they don’t feel that from you. I once had a player say at a home meal at our place that he’d never had so much food for a meal. He got used to being hungry. Made my daughter cry. We wanted to show what a happy home looks like, or if a player knew what it looked like, that it’s reaffirmed. I tried to be a role model and an example to our players.”
Katz has a sparkling regional reputation among area prep coaches, for his decency, personality and impact. Said Rob Richards, the former Antelope High boys coach, “(Katz) took an underfunded, lack-of-direction program and turned it into a winner on the court and in the classroom.”
Katz praised wife Lori for her backing. It’s not easy to coach and balance a home life.
“Oh, she’s amazing,” Katz said. “There’s no way I could have done this for as long as I did and as hard as I did without her support, all the sacrifices, the stress, everything from A to Z. I tell young coaches when they ask what the biggest key to coaching success is, and I say, ‘It’s going to be your wife. Find that balance.’”
Katz said that his farewell to players and staff Friday was emotional. Tears everywhere, by everyone.
“I’m tired of crying,” he said. “I’ve been doing that since early this morning. It feels good to know people care.”
Katz is delighted that Laird, his longtime assistant, is heading the program. It made his decision to retire that much easier.
“Tremendous coach, tremendous person, and as good of a coach as there is in the country,” Katz said. “He’s invested. He’s extremely bright, extremely hard working and has a great relationship with the players. His character and integrity are second to none. The program is in the best hands they can be.”