On the heels of his most successful season as head coach, Long Beach State’s Jeff Cammon is on the move, accepting the head coaching position at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California.
Cammon was named the Big West Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year this past season after leading the Beach to a 23-10 record and the most wins of any team in the conference. LBSU ultimately came up short in the Big West Tournament semifinals before a second consecutive first-round exit in the Women’s NIT.
In six seasons at Long Beach State, Cammon amassed an 84-90 overall record, but had produced three consecutive winning seasons coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March of 2022, Cammon signed a contract extension to remain with the Beach through 2027, but felt this was the right time to make a move in his coaching career.
“Obviously I love it here, this is home,” said Cammon of leaving Long Beach State. “But you always want to grow and challenge yourself. It’s another opportunity to grow for me and my family.”
Cammon was hired in May of 2017 by former Long Beach State Athletic Director Andy Fee, who also inked Cammon to his extension last year. It was a homecoming for Cammon, who served as an assistant coach for five seasons at LBSU from 2009-14 under his predecessor, Jody Wynn.
After his first tenure with the Beach, Cammon served as an assistant coach at Cal and Colorado. Earlier in his career, he was the head girls’ coach at Alemany High School, and made stops as a men’s basketball coach at Kentucky Wesleyan, Chaffey CC, and his alma mater, Alcorn State.
Cammon said his decision to leave Long Beach State was not an easy one, and he was grateful for the opportunity to return to the university and to help lead the program for the past six years.
“It was a dream come true to be able to come back to a place with authentic, genuine people that actually truly care about one another,” said Cammon. “The donors care about the student-athletes and the community. It really was a dream come true–they supported me, people continued to believe in me and in us, and that made all the difference. In the end, this was the hardest decision to make. My wife and I wrestled with this, because that’s how much we love Long Beach.”
