Herb Sendek hired as new Santa Clara head coach

After a year out of coaching, Herb Sendek is headed back to campus. The 53-year old veteran head coach is taking the reigns at Santa Clara. Sendek has previous head coaching stops at Arizona State (2006-2015), NC State (1996-2006) and Miami (OH) (1993-1996) and has been to the NCAA Tournament on eight occasions.

Sendek brings some more star power to the coaching ranks of the WCC as the only coach in the conference to previously lead three different programs to the NCAA Tournament. However, a lack of postseason success has long been the major point for Sendek’s critics, as just one of those NCAA Tournament appearances lasted past the first weekend. Sendek has just once won a conference title (the MAC in 1994-95), but has finished in the top half of his conference with consistency throughout his career.

Santa Clara fired head coach Kerry Keating after three straight losing seasons. Keating was never able to get the Broncos to the NCAA Tournament during his nine-year tenure, something that the program itself hasn’t done since 1996. The WCC has been top heavy for the last 15+ years, as Gonzaga has pretty much dominated the competition, often followed by Saint Mary’s and (more recently) BYU. But the school sits in a very fertile recruiting ground and Sendek has spent the last nine years of his career on the West Coast.