Charles Katsiaficas enters his 38th season as head coach of the Pomona-Pitzer men's basketball program in 2025-26.
Since assuming the permanent head coaching duties in 1988, Charles Katsiaficas ("Coach Kat") has led the Sagehens to 13 regular season SCIAC Championships and four SCIAC Tournament Championships, as well as 15 berths in the NCAA Division III Tournament, including the deepest run in program history in 2020 when the Sagehens advanced to the Sweet Sixteen before their tournament run was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak and cancellation of the NCAA Tournament. Katsiaficas went over the 500-win mark for his career in 2019-2020.
A native of Ellsworth, Maine, Katsiaficas attended Tufts University in Boston, where he earned his degree in economics and was elected captain of the basketball team. Prior to coming to California in 1984, he spent nine months as a player-coach for Lobas, a professional team in Lomma, Sweden.
Upon joining the Pomona-Pitzer program, Katsiaficas gained valuable experience serving two years as an assistant under Gregg Popovich, the current Head Coach for the five-time NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs. Popovich and Katsiaficas helped the Sagehens to their first SCIAC title in 68 years during the 1985-1986 season.Â
As the interim head coach in 1986-87 (while Popovich took sabbatical leave and worked with Dean Smith at UNC and Larry Brown at KU), Katsiaficas led Pomona-Pitzer to a second place conference finish. He then spent the 1987-88 season as an assistant coach under Hank Egan at the University of San Diego before returning to Pomona-Pitzer in the role of Head Coach in 1988.
Katsiaficas has led Pomona-Pitzer to 18 total SCIAC championships in his career (1989, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2008 Tournament, 2019, 2019 Tournament, 2020, 2020 Tournament, 2022, 2022 Tournament, 2023).
In addition to his coaching duties, Katsiaficas is a Professor of Physical Education. He served as Director of Athletics and Chair of the Department of Physical Education from 2000-2015. He and his wife Jennifer reside in Claremont with their two children, Charlie and Lily.
