Herbert Joseph Sendek Jr. (born February 22, 1963) is an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach who is the current men's basketball head coach at Santa Clara.

Early life

Herbert Joseph Sendek Jr. grew up in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and attended Penn Hills High School. He starred as a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

in basketball, lettering two years, serving as team captain, and earning All-East Suburban honors. He graduated with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and was

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

of the Class of 1981. Sendek's father, Herb Sr., was a teacher and basketball coach at both the high school and junior college levels. Sendek is of Slovak descent.

College career

He played college basketball at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

, where he was a three-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

. He graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in 1985 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

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and earned the Carnegie Merit Scholarship.

Assistant coach

In 1984–85, Sendek served as an assistant coach at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh. Sendek served as a graduate assistant coach at Providence in 1985, then as an assistant coach at Providence from 1987 to 1989. He then served as an assistant coach at

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

under

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (; born September 18, 1952) is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University (New York City), St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece national basketball t ...

from 1989 to 1993.

Head coach

Miami (Ohio)

In 1993, Sendek accepted his first college head coaching job, at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...

, succeeding

Joby Wright Joseph "Joby" Wright (born September 5, 1950) is an American former college and professional basketball player who was men's basketball head coach at Miami University and at the University of Wyoming. Married to Loretta Wright, August 18, 2017. ...

, who left to become head coach at

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. In his first season, 1993–94, the Redskins (now RedHawks) posted a 19–11 record and finished second in the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC). In 1994–95, Miami improved to 23–7 overall, winning the MAC championship with a 16–2 record and earning a spot in the NCAA tournament. In the Midwest Regional, #12 seeded Miami shocked #5 seeded

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

71–62, before losing to #4 seeded

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in overtime in the second round. In Sendek's third season at Miami, 1995–96, the team went 21–8 and finished third in the MAC. Miami earned a berth in the NIT, losing a first-round game to

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

, 58–57. Sendek was named the 1995 MAC Coach of the Year.

North Carolina State

After three seasons at Miami, Sendek was hired at

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

in 1996, becoming the youngest head coach in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC). He immediately improved upon the Les Robinson era, winning 17 games for the program's first winning record in six years. The Wolfpack ended the season winning eight of 11 games, advanced to the finals of the ACC

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

, and earned a trip to the postseason in the NIT. Sendek coached NC State to the NCAA tournament five consecutive years from 2002 until 2006 (tying the school record). He won his 100th game at NC State in 2002. In 2004, Sendek won ACC Coach of the Year and Julius Hodge, one of Sendek's most prized recruits during his NC State tenure, was named

ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year The Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the men's basketball player in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) voted as the most outstanding player. It has been presented since the league's first season, ...

. In 2005, NC State upset defending champion

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

in the Second Round of the NCAA tournament to advance to the Sweet 16, NC State's deepest run into the tournament during Sendek's years. Due in part to an 8–38 record against

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

combined with failing to win an ACC championship, fan and booster support was in steep decline. This ultimately played a factor in Sendek deciding to leave NC State for the head coaching vacancy at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

Arizona State

On April 3, 2006, Sendek accepted the head coaching job at

. While his first year record in the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

was a paltry 2–16, recruiting went well: ASU signed Jerren Shipp, a highly regarded high school guard, point guard Derek Glasser from the LA area, and Eric Boateng, a McDonald's All-American who transferred from Duke. His second recruiting class included highly touted McDonald's All-American

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is regarded by some as one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA hist ...

and point guard Jamelle McMillan (a four-star recruit and the son of former NC State basketball star

Nate McMillan Nathaniel McMillan (born August 3, 1964) is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000 to ...

). The 2007–08 season was a great improvement over the previous season. Sendek and freshman guard

led the Sun Devils to fifth place in the Pac-10 Conference, including a sweep of rival Arizona. Arizona State was rewarded with a number 1 seed in the 2008 NIT. The 2008–09 team led by Pac-10 Player of the Year Harden improved to a 25–10 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament. After the departure of Harden for the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, the Sun Devils program finished second in the Pac-10 during the 2009–10 season in what was a weak Pac-10 Conference. That year, the conference RPI was so weak, it was the first time the second-place Pac-10 team did not get an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament. The Sun Devils instead were given a #1 Seed in the NIT and lost 67–66 to Jacksonville in Tempe. With three returning seniors, there were high expectations for the 2010–11 season with an expected run at the Pac-10 title again. However, the Sun Devils finished in last place with a record of 12–19 (4–14). The 2011–12 season was anticipated to be better with the addition of newcomer and 2010–11 Arizona High School Player of the Year

Jahii Carson Jahii Carson (born August 31, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for SG ART Giants Düsseldorf of the ProA. He played college basketball for Arizona State University where he was co-Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of t ...

. However, Carson failed to gain NCAA clearance to play. The season became even more troublesome as Sendek dismissed his leading scorer, Keala King, from the team on January 7, 2012, for undisclosed reasons. The season resulted in a tenth-place finish in the new

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

. A sixth-place finish followed in 2012–13 with a trip to the NIT. In 2013–14, ASU finished with a 21–12 record and a loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament. On March 24, 2015, Sendek was fired by Arizona State after an 18–16 record, losing to

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

in the Pac-12 tournament, and a trip to the NIT.

Santa Clara

On March 28, 2016, Sendek accepted the head coaching job at Santa Clara, replacing recently fired coach Kerry Keating, who was fired after nine years. On January 12, 2022, Sendek got his 500th career win against Pacific.

Personal life

Sendek is married to Melanie (Scheuer); they have three daughters. Sendek was inducted into the Penn Hills Hall of Fame and into the East Boros Chapter of the Pennsylvania Hall of Fame.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Santa Clara profile

Arizona State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sendek, Herb 1963 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American people of Slovak descent Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon Tartans men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coaches Miami RedHawks men's basketball coaches NC State Wolfpack men's basketball coaches Point guards High school basketball coaches in Pennsylvania Providence Friars men's basketball coaches Tepper School of Business alumni 20th-century American sportsmen