Hornets keep Katz: Sac State basketball coach signs extension
The fan mantra throughout the 2019-20 season was, “Keep Katz!”
Supporters young and old packed into Sacramento State’s cozy home venue with signs and T-shirts backing longtime men’s basketball coach Brian Katz, who worked this season on an expiring contract.
The Hornets are keeping Katz.
Sac State athletic director Mark Orr said Tuesday he has agreed in principle to a multiyear contract extension, keeping Katz in place with a promising foundation in which to build.
Katz was ecstatic with the news. He met in person with Orr in recent days to discuss the status of the program and their mutual hopes and expectations. During his daily 5-mile run through the Arden area on Tuesday, Katz told The Bee, between breaths, “Really excited and really appreciate the opportunity to continue to build here. I really appreciate Mark Orr and (Sac State) president Robert S. Nelsen for believing in me and our program.”
Sac State’s 16 wins this season were among the most in the program’s Division I era, which started in 1991. Sac State has regularly fielded competitive teams despite having the poorest basketball facilities of the 351 D-I programs in the country. Katz never used that as an excuse, explaining that the rim is still 10-feet high in any venue. Besides, he would tell recruits, you’re here to graduate and have an enjoyable hoops experience, not compare venues.
Sac State has indeed recruited good student-athletes, and the Hornets have led all D-I programs in graduation rates over the 12 seasons Katz has been at the helm. Only one of his players in that stretch did not graduate. On the court, Sac State ranked fifth nationally in points allowed, 59.7 points, which led all Big Sky Conference schools. Katz’s 142 victories are the second most in program history, which started in 1948.
Sac State’s season ended abruptly on March 12, as it did for college programs across the land, when the coronavirus scare forced season cancellations. Sac State was in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise, hours before a second-round game, when the plug was pulled.
Said Orr in a statement for Sac State athletics, “I am excited to continue a partnership with Coach Katz in leading Hornet basketball to compete for Big Sky championships. Brian and his staff have developed outstanding student-athletes, and truly care about their educational experience at Sacramento State. While we were all disappointed the team was unable to finish the 2020 Big Sky Tournament, we were proud of the way the team finished the season, and look forward to continuing that momentum into next year. Sacramento State, Brian, and I are committed to advancing the program further in the upcoming years, and hope for a large number of Hornet fans returning to the Nest to support next year’s team.”
Katz said he was moved, if not a bit embarrassed, by the show of support at games, including a flood of support on social media. He was approached in the summer of 2017 about the San Jose State opening, went for a visit and then returned home with mixed feelings.
“I told my players then, ‘Ah, San Jose State has blue colors, and we’re green and gold,’” Katz recalled. “Sac State is home for me. All the support I’ve gotten. ... Wow. Just wow.”
Katz has been connected to Sac State since 1977, his freshman season as a student.
This rates as another boom move for Orr.
Along with Nelsen, Orr was able to land a hot coaching prospect in Troy Taylor to head the Hornets’ football fortunes, and Taylor earned National Coach of the Year honors after leading the program to its first Big Sky championship. Last spring, Sac State extended baseball coach Reggie Christiansen through the 2026 season after he had led the Hornets to three NCAA Tournament appearances since 2014.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 2:25 PM.