University of California Athletics

Adam Mazarei, a proven leader and skill developer who played an instrumental role in a turnaround at Vanderbilt and spent six successful seasons at the NBA level, joined the California men’s basketball program as an associate head coach in April 2023. He's spent two years on Mark Madsen's staff, most recently helping lead the Golden Bears through their first season as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024-25.

Mazarei, a native of Thousand Oaks, California, has played a critical role in helping Madsen reinvigorate the Cal program and its fan base. In Mazarei's first year in Berkeley in 2023-24, the Bears posted a 10-win improvement and earned their best finish in the Pac-12 Conference standings since 2016-17 with a tie for sixth place (13-19, 9-11). Their nine conference wins – each against a different opponent – included marquee victories against UCLA and NCAA Tournament squads Washington State, Oregon and Colorado.

Cal won 14 games in 2024-25 and reached the ACC Tournament second round following a double-overtime win over Virginia Tech in the opening round; the Bears became just the second No. 15 seed to win a game in the ACC Tournament. Cal went 11-6 at home – including wins over ACC foes Virginia, Florida State, Miami, NC State and Boston College – and picked up a 71-66 road win at USC in nonconference play.

Mazarei's success as a skill developer has been evident at Cal, highlighted by Jaylon Tyson, who became the No. 20 overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers after just one season spent with the Bears in 2023-24. Mazarei also played a key role in the in-season development of 2024-25 newcomers Andrej Stojakovic (7.8 PPG at Stanford in 2023-24; 17.9 PPG at Cal in 2024-25) and Jeremiah Wilkinson (15.1 PPG), the latter of whom was named ACC Sixth Man of the Year and an ACC All-Rookie Team selection.

Mazarei helped Cal land the nation's No. 8 (2023) and No. 12 (2024) recruiting classes (On3) in back-to-back years.
 
Mazarei returned to the West Coast after four seasons (2019-23) on staff at Vanderbilt under head coach Jerry Stackhouse, the final year in which he was an associate head coach. His impact at Vanderbilt was swift, as he oversaw team skill development and scouting while assisting with practice planning, player development, recruiting and academics. The Commodores made consecutive NIT quarterfinal appearances in 2021-22 and 2022-23 as part of the program’s first winning seasons since 2016-17, and their 22 wins in 2022-23 were their most in more than a decade.
 
In Mazarei’s first season in Nashville, sophomore guard Aaron Nesmith, who led the nation in made 3-pointers prior to his injury, and junior guard Saben Lee, who bounced onto the national scene with three 30-point games and an All-SEC selection, were both selected in the 2020 NBA Draft. Nesmith was a lottery pick at 14th overall (Boston) and Lee was 37th overall (Detroit). Under Mazarei’s watch, Scotty Pippen Jr. earned first-team All-SEC accolades and set the school scoring record for a sophomore as he finished second in the SEC with 20.8 points per game in 2020-21 before signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.
 
In six seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies (2013-19) – three as an assistant coach and three as a player development assistant – the organization made the NBA playoffs four times, including a 55-win campaign in 2014-15 en route to the second round. Mazarei quickly climbed the ladder in Memphis, going from player development coach to advanced scout to NBA personnel scout, all while maintaining his player development duties. As a personnel scout he worked closely with the front office, which included NBA executive Ed Stefanski, to identify potential free agents and prepare new signees in their transition to the team.
 
Once promoted to assistant coach ahead of the 2016-17 NBA season, he was responsible for the Grizzlies guards and young talent, including Mike Conley, Andrew Harrison and Dillon Brooks. His tenure in Memphis also included work with Tony Allen, who earned NBA first-team all-defense honors as well as James Johnson, JaMychal Green, Ed Davis and Nick Calathes.
 
Prior to arriving in Memphis, Mazarei spent three years (2010-13) at Moorpark College (Calif.) as an assistant and associate head coach. He also served as a player development coach at the IMPACT Basketball Academy in Las Vegas from 2019-13, where he prepared pre-draftees for the NBA combine and team workouts, including Terrence Ross (Washington), Jamaal Franklin (San Diego State), Phil Pressey (Missouri), Kelly Olynyk (Gonzaga) and Tony Wroten (Washington).
 
Mazarei’s coaching career began at the grassroots level in 2006 when he founded Kings Basketball Academy, a Southern California-based youth program that helped develop 44 collegiate athletes, including national champion point guard Kihei Clark (Virginia), Riley Battin (Utah), Wes Slajchert (Dartmouth) and Clark Slajchert (Penn) among others.
 
Mazarei received his master’s degree in athletic administration and coaching from Concordia in 2013 and earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Redlands (Calif.) in 2006, where he starred at point guard and led the SCIAC in assists per game and paced all NCAA divisions in assist-to-turnover ratio (5:1) as a senior.
 
LAST UPDATED: March 18, 2025