coach garrett

Brendan Garrett was hired as the Head Boys’ Basketball Coach at Adolfo Camarillo High School on May 31st, 2019. Coach Garrett commented, “I am absolutely thrilled to be named the head coach at Camarillo. It is a program and school with a lot of culture and tradition, an awesome athletic director (Mary Perez), and a supportive administration. I am excited to get going, and I am looking forward to serving our campus, community, and most importantly, our student-athletes.” Last year’s team at Camarillo High School made school history by making it to the State quarter finals (Southern California regional semi-final). It was the program’s first time ever qualifying for the state tournament, and the furthest they have ever made it. They also made the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section’s Division 3-AA semifinals.

During the past four seasons, Camarillo has made the playoffs each year, extending the streak to 14 straight postseason appearances. The Scorpions were also the Academic Team Champions for the CIF-SS, for having the highest team grade point average, and were invited down to Angel Stadium to be honored on the field prior to an Angels baseball game. Last season, the Scorpions lost to one of the Coastal Canyon League co-champions by three points, and the other co-champion by four points. Seven points stood in the way of a league title (or at least a share of it). The Scorpions also had Chase Aronowitz, one of the best three-point shooters in the state and the nation last season. He finished 9th in the nation, 2nd in the state, shattered the Ventura County record by over 40, and obliterated the school record in makes, with 144. He also broke the school record for most makes in a game, with 9, in our CIF-SS quarterfinal win. The Scorpions will be without returning starter and one of County’s leading rebounders this year, Jack Bannon, who suffered a knee injury in the off-season. Regarding the upcoming season, Coach Garrett says, “We have a good core group returning from a historical postseason run last year. We have great kids, from great families, who are tough, smart, and allow us to coach them hard. We always believe we have a chance if we continue to have student-athletes like this.” The Scorpions have had five players move on to play in college, and one NCAA division one team manager (UNLV), in the last four seasons (Carter Alexander, Pat Bowman, Damian Ruiz, Jordan Torres, Isaac Means, & Chase Aronowitz). Coach Garrett also teaches on campus in the Social Science and AVID departments.

Prior to this, Coach Garrett was the top assistant for California Lutheran University. He spent 5 seasons there (2012-2017), and helped the program gain a lot of success. They got back to being above a .500 winning percentage in his first year. CLU played for a conference championship in his second year and won the conference (SCIAC) in 2015. CLU went 20-7 in 2016-17 and played for another conference championship. During the 2016-17 season, CLU had the best start of the season since the 1992-93 season (7-0 record). Coach Garrett also was responsible for the recruitment of starting point-guard, Caleb Richey, who was the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year, and selected First Team All SCIAC. Caleb was also ranked #1 in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, and now holds the single-season assist record. Coach Garrett also assisted in the development and recruitment of 1st Team All SCIAC wing, Wolfgang Wood, who is the current coach for St. Bonaventure high school. He also was responsible for the recruitment of 2-time all-conference, all-region player, and NABC All-American, Arik Smith, who is currently playing in one of the top professional leagues in Europe. He was also responsible for the recruitment of guard Adrian Francis, who was a leader or top 3 on our team in most statistical categories before his injury. Coach Garrett was also responsible for the recruitment of Kyle Ferreira (NCAA D1 transfer from Cal State Univ. Bakersfield), who shot over 40% from the three-point line for the season, and over 50% for most of conference play.

Brendan Garrett came back to CLU after serving as the Head Boys’ Basketball Coach at Hueneme High School in Oxnard, CA from 2008-12. There, he took over a program that had just three wins in the previous season. In his 2nd season, not only did the team almost quadruple the win total from his first season, but he also guided them back to the CIF playoffs for the first time in four seasons. He would also go on to guide them back to the CIF playoffs in his final season. While there, Coach Garrett was responsible for the development of one all-Ventura County player, 6 all-Pacific View League (PVL) players, and 7 all-PVL honorable-mention players. He also helped one player to finish the 2008-09 season ranked in the top 100 in the nation for blocks (per maxpreps.com), and another player to be ranked first in PVL and second in Ventura County for rebounding in 2011-12. Coach Garrett was also hard at work off the court by drastically increasing the fundraising amount by almost six times in his first year. Hueneme also saw an increase in the program’s overall grade-point average, no academic ineligibility at the varsity level, and a 100% graduation rate during Garrett’s tenure. Coach Garrett also led the direction of the summer youth basketball camps, which saw an increase in enrollment from 18 to over 160 kids during his time.

Prior to that, Coach Garrett was hired as the top assistant coach at Nebraska Wesleyan University in the city of Lincoln. He was one of the youngest in the nation to hold this position at the college level, at the time. There, his duties included recruiting coordinator; development of perimeter players (where he helped develop one all-conference guard); assisted with designing off-season skill development workouts and strength & conditioning workouts; director of camps (planning, marketing, registering, & teaching/coaching); assisted with fundraising; in charge of scouting opponents; assisted with game scheduling; academic liaison; alumni development; and team equipment organization coordination of student-managers.

Before that, Coach Garrett was invited to serve as the Graduate Assistant Coach at CLU once he was done playing. While there, Coach Garrett was selected as a National Camp Counselor of the Year by Camp Business magazine in 2004, for his work done for the famous, summer Lu Dog Basketball Camps at CLU. While completing his graduate work, he assisted with all aspects of the program, including on the floor coaching; film exchange; scouting; film breakdowns; recruiting; camps; equipment management; &study hall. The Kingsmen led the nation for NCAA Division 3 in team field goal percentage in 2004-05. Coach Garrett played at California Lutheran University from 1999-2003. While there, he played for Hall of Fame Coach Rich Rider’s first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship team that also played in the national tournament in 2001. During his four years, the team’s overall record was 69-31 and 41-14 (0.732%) in conference. In 2001-02, the Kingsmen team won 20 games, were ranked in the top 10 in the west region and got votes for top 25 in the country on D3hoops.com. In his senior year, he was voted the team’s Hard Hat Award winner, which is given to the player with the best work ethic. Coach Garrett completed his bachelor’s degree in social science in 2003, received his California single-subject teaching credential in 2006, and his master’s degree in education in 2007.

During his prep career, Coach Garrett was a four-year varsity letterman. He played his senior high school season at Silverado High School (Victorville, CA). Coach Garrett was ranked in the top 25 in the Southern Section for assists and free-throw percentage. He was also listed on SoCal Hoops as a "best of the rest" point-guard on the west coast. Coach Garrett served as a team captain, was the Coach’s Award winner, and was all-High Desert honorable mention for a team that made the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section Division 1-AA playoffs. He also set the record for most assists in a season. His coach there was Kurt Herbst, who is a former assistant coach to Greg Popovich (current San Antonio Spurs Head Coach). Prior to that, Coach Garrett played 3 years at Hueneme High School in Oxnard, where he was born and raised. There he was a team captain and played varsity as a freshman. His coach there was longtime college coach Tom McCollum, who also did some scouting work for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trailblazers in the NBA.

Coach Garrett is married to Jennifer (Gilbertson), and they have two sons. Brendan Jr. (11), and Jordan (6). They reside in Camarillo.