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Gordon takes Phoenix College to a National Power
Phoenix, AZ – Matt Gordon has been the head coach at Phoenix College for eight years, also being the all time winningest coach in Phoenix College history with close to 200 wins. Gordon has led the Bears to two NJCAA Div. II Final Fours, a NJCAA Div. II Sixth Place finish, three Region 1 Championships, three District 1 Championships, and six Region 1 Championship game appearances.
In 2011-12 Gordon was named NJCAA Div. II District 1 Coach of the Year for the 4th time.
This years class that Gordon has is one to watch as players Torrian Epps (Holbrook HS – Holbrook, AZ), Marquez Jackson (Fairfax HS – Phoenix, AZ), Alec Savage (Desert Mountain – Scottsdale, AZ), Desmond Howard (Perry- Chandler, AZ), Chris Mason (Western New Mexico transfer) and Antoine Nathaniel (Fremont HS – Fremont, CA) all have signed and will impact the talent in the conference.
Some of his players that signed to play college basketball after junior college include: Nate Bohy & Taylor Christiansen (Peru State), Christian Bower (St. Mary’s San Antonio), Jason Edwards (Bemidji State), Darrell Farr (Presentation College), Andrew Fulbright and Brandon Flenor (Kansas Wesleyan University), Elgin Caldwell (Benedictine College), Shayar Lee (Adams State), Sam Kaserer (earned an academic scholarship to Arizona State University), Will Donahue (Cal Poly SLO), Curtis Mitchell and Stevie Ledesma (Regis University), Wes Jones (Kansas Wesleyan University), Alex Miller (Benedictine College), Matt Rosinski (Regis University), Marko Latinovic (Erskine College), AJ Woodward (Hawaii Pacific) and Just Salzwedel (Boise State University).
Coach Gordon also was an assistant coach at the University of Portland from 2001-2003, where he was in charge of player development and helped in recruiting. Coach Gordon also spent a year at Dominican University where he helped guide the Penguins to a 12-game increase in victories from the previous year and a spot in the league championship game. Before going to Dominican, Coach Gordon spent a year at Cal State Northridge where he was part of a coaching staff that helped lead the Matadors to their first 20 win season.
Matt Gordon directed the Matt Gordon & Area Codes Basketball Coaches Clinic in April 2011
Coach Gordon graduated from UCLA, where he was a Student Assistant for four years. During his tenure at UCLA, the Bruins went to four straight NCAA tournaments, reaching the Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen in two of those years.
Matt is married to Iris Gordon, and they have one daughter, Madison.
More about Phoenix College: Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. Phoenix College also known as PC is one of the largest community college systems in the world. Phoenix College consists of the main campus in Midtown Phoenix, as well as a downtown campus located in the central business district of Phoenix.
Phoenix College offers over 200 degree and certificate programs. PC also offers training geared towards professional community/business development and general interest. PC is also home of the Student Services Institute with enrollment of 12, 000.
Known alumni from Phoenix College include actor and film star Nick Nolte and singer and recording artist CeCe Peniston.
Area Code Basketball sits down with coach Gordon to ask some questions as we get to know Gordon.
AC: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN BASKETBALL?GORDON: 17 years in college basketballAC: WHERE DO YOU RESIDE?GORDON: Phoenix, AZAC: WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A PLAYER TO BE A COLLEGE PROSPECT?GORDON: Character, talent, work ethic, grades, and if the player wants to get better.AC: NAME SOME OF THE KIDS YOU HELPED OR MENTORED?GORDON: I have had over 40 players move on to 4 year colleges. Some players, Ira Brown (Gonzaga), Will Donahue (Cal Poly SLO), Stevie Ledesma & Curtis Mitchell (Regis University), Ryan Holmes (Pepperdine), Justin Salzwedel (Boise State).Phoenix College is located in downtown Phoenix and is a nice campus
AC: WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS IN BASKETBALL?GORDON: Help young men transition to college and move them on to 4 year colleges. I am in a service oriented position and I am here to help young men.AC: TALK ABOUT EVENTS, CAMPS, SHOWCASES OR TOURNAMENTS YOU RUN?GORDON: We are planning to run a fall league in conjunction with area codes basketball at Phoenix College. We are also the host site for many area codes basketball events.AC: HOW CAN WE CLEAN UP AAU AND CLUB BASKETBALL WITH COACHES DOING IT FOR THE RIGHT REASONS AND BETTER TEACHING IN THE GAME?GORDON : Only way is to have extensive training and certification for AAU and club coaches. More on the floor coaching clinics for these coaches would definitely help. Condensing the number of club teams would also help get rid of some of the club teams that are not in itfor the right reasons. It would also make club ball in Arizona better.AC: WATCHING MOST PLAYERS PLAY, WHERE SHOULD THEY IMPROVE? DO YOU SEE POOR FUNDAMENTALS? HOW TO FIX THAT PROBLEM?GORDON: Coaches need to work on fundamentals. Many coaches are too worried about winning and not teaching the game the correct way so they ignore fundamentals. We have to adopt the European way of teaching the game where they don’t allow the players to play all the time. They work on footwork, ball handling, shooting, individual defense, and etc. for multiple hours each day and then they allow their players to play in game like situations. Many coaches don’t know what to teach so they just scrimmage and do shooting drills with no teaching because they don’t have the knowledge to teach the game.AC: DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE OR TWITTER FOR COACHES, PLAYERS, FANS & PARENTS TO FOLLOW?GORDON: www.phoenixcollege.edu/athletics or twitter: CoachGordonPCWe thank Matt Gordon for his time and the excellent job well done at Phoenix College and the Arizona basketball community for all his efforts.
