“You’ve got to be willing to outwork people.” — Joe Callero, men’s basketball head coach.
Last season, the Cal Poly men’s basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the Big West preseason media poll, but it defied expectations and finished second. The team tied for the highest ever finish by the Mustangs in the Big West. After going three seasons without having an All-Big West Conference player, Cal Poly had three players recognized last season. The only person not surprised by the historical turnaround was head coach Joe Callero.
“At Cal Poly the weaknesses are our strengths,” Callero said. “We have an old gym, but it has fresh green walls and a packed house; it’s a great home court advantage. And we beat USC, which has a $147 million gym.”
Callero came to Cal Poly from the University of Seattle where he guided the Redhawks through their transition to Division I and registered 75 wins in the last four years. Seattle made the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in 38 years and has an overall record 170-165 in 13 seasons as head coach.
Callero was also an assistant coach at USC and coached at the high school and junior college levels. He coached former Celtic fan favorite Brian Scalabrine at Highline Community College and recruited him for USC.
“You have to create a family atmosphere,” Callero said. “Athletes today, as much as anytime in society, are looking for coaches who treat them like people and not pieces of meat. There’s a lot of haters out there, but in the end these players are human beings.”
A team-first atmosphere is important to Callero, because he played college basketball, so he understands the importance of team chemistry. Callero played two seasons at Central Washington where he was the starting point guard and captain on two teams that made consecutive NAIA National Championship appearances. After graduating with a degree in psychology, he earned a master’s degree in education from Seattle. The Seattle area native spent most of his life in the Northwest, but said he could not pass up the opportunity to coach on California’s Central Coast.
“This is an incredible place to raise a family and coach great kids,” Callero said. “I’m able to go home before games and be back in 20 minutes. You can’t do that in a place like Seattle.”