LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (Feb. 25, 2025) – Head Coach
Mark Jensen '00 and his Whittier College men's basketball staff have been recognized as SCIAC Men's Basketball Coaching Staff of the Year.
Jensen and the Poets embarked on an epic journey en route to this year's historic achievement and season. After spending more than a decade as the top assistant under Head Coach
Rock Carter '89, Jensen took over as the permanent head coach in 2017-18. Seven seasons (eight years) later, his program made a historic jump, and there's been no shortage of reasons for that. Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Jensen brought Chris Dalley '07 back on staff and added Jabari Lewis, Whittier's Director of Wellness & Recreational Sports to the mix as well. Both coaches contributed heavily to the Poets becoming the SCIAC's most improved defensive team.
Additionally, Jensen added two more names to the staff that should be familiar to longtime SCIAC basketball viewers: Larry Zucker and Jack Roggin. Roggin was a key part of several Chapman University teams that contended for the SCIAC Championship in recent years, while Zucker, someone who has been around the SCIAC block, assisted on the recruiting end of things.
All the while, the Poets' offensive efforts became more and more reliant on the play of senior guard
Aamari Smith (Decatur, Ga. / Roosevelt / San Bernardino Valley College), who led the SCIAC in scoring as a junior back in 2023-24. As Smith took on more offensive and defensive responsibility the Poets' collective play began to reach new heights with each passing game. Smith would go on to lead the nation in scoring by nearly two points per game more than the next-highest scorer and become Whittier's first-ever Josten's Trophy Finalist. As for the Poets, they reached the SCIAC Postseason Tournament for the first time under Jensen and, in hosting the 4-5 matchup against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, earned the program's first-ever SCIAC postseason victory. Jensen and the Poets then went on the road and gave SCIAC co-regular season winner California Lutheran University all they can handle.
From top-to-bottom, 2024-25 was arguably the most successful season in the recent history of the Whittier College men's basketball program. Jensen and his staff also produced a First Team All-SCIAC/D3Hoops First Team All-Region player in Smith, and a Secnod Team All-SCIAC player in junior wing
Chine Nwanevu (Eastvale, Calif. / Norco / San Bernardino Valley College).
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