Sacramento State has hired former NBA player Mike Bibby as its new men’s basketball head coach.
Bibby spent seven seasons with the Sacramento Kings from 2001 to 2008, leading the team to multiple deep NBA playoff runs. He won a national championship as a player at Arizona and was the No. 2 pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies.
He played for the Grizzlies and also the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat and Washington Wizards. In 1,001 NBA regular-season games, he averaged 14.7 points and 5.5 assists.
“Since 2001, Sacramento has felt like home to me,” Bibby, 46, said in a statement. “The people, the fans and the passion they have for the city and their teams is unmatched. I have always felt that passion, and will always be thankful for how I was embraced. Sacramento State is no different. After seeing the campus and meeting with (president Luke) Wood and (athletic director) Mark Orr, their vision for the university and program was something I shared. We are going to build, we are going to develop and we are going to win.”
𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 9️⃣1️⃣6️⃣
Former Sacramento Kings legend Mike Bibby is coming home as the 17th head men’s basketball coach in school history.
🔗: https://t.co/uUjuzYG3HF#StingersUp pic.twitter.com/pi9SJSema7
— Sacramento State Men’s Basketball (@SacHornetsMBB) March 25, 2025
It’s another high-profile move for Sac State, which also spoke to Michael Vick for its football head coaching job before hiring UNLV offensive coordinator Brennan Marion. The school also has made claims of millions in NIL dollars becoming available if it were to receive an invitation to the Pac-12.
“I am convinced that Mike will pour every ounce of his energy into Sacramento State and engage the entire Sacramento region,” Orr said in a statement. “I could not be more excited about the future of our program.”
Bibby has spent time as an assistant coach with the Puerto Rican national team, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Grizzlies summer-league teams.
At Shadow Mountain High School in Arizona, his alma mater, Bibby led the program to five state championships. He was fired in 2019 following allegations of sexual abuse and harassment made against him by a teacher at the school. Bibby denied the claims, and Phoenix police did not recommend charges against Bibby after not finding probable cause.
Sacramento State reached the 1962 Division II national championship game but has never reached the Division I NCAA Tournament or the NIT. The Hornets went 7-25 overall this season, finishing last in the Big Sky Conference with a 3-15 record.
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(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images for BIG3)
