Men’s basketball: OCC’s Spencer hires new assistant

COSTA MESA - Orange Coast College men’s basketball coach Steve

Spencer has added another coach to his staff, hiring Scott Coopman as an

assistant, Spencer announced Saturday.

Coopman, 28, comes to Coast after a five-year stint as an assistant at

Westmont College in Santa Barbara. He graduated from UC Irvine with a

degree in social ecology. At Westmont, he coached on the staff of John

Moore, who has compiled a 93-34 record over the past four years.

“Any time you’ve worked under a great coach, as Scott has with Coach

Moore, you’re going to know a thing or two about basketball,” Spencer

said. “Scott has a great work ethic, a love and passion for the game, a

tremendous knowledge of the game and he’s very loyal. Those are the

qualities you want in an assistant coach.”

In addition to working at Westmont, Coopman has also worked at several

high-profile basketball camps, including UCLA’s and Stanford’s. At UCLA,

he worked with Spencer, who was an assistant with the Bruins under Steve

Lavin and served as the coaching director of the team’s basketball summer

camps before coming to Coast.

In August, Spencer hired Brad Wright as an assistant.