In the upcoming volleyball and basketball seasons, Branden Higa, Wes Schneider and Jarrod Olsen will be making their first appearances as the newest head coaches at CBU.
Branden Higa, head coach of women’s volleyball, Wes Schneider, head coach of men’s volleyball and Jarrod Olsen, head coach of women’s basketball, all have extensive training as well as experience in each of their respective sport.
The coaches’ bios, which include previous credentials and contact information, can be found at www.cbulancers.com.
Higa is originally from Lancaster, Calif., and a graduate of Pepperdine University where he earned a double major in international studies and public relations in 1998. Since then, Higa has worked for schools such as Loyola Marymount University (LMU) for two years as an assistant and Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn. as an assistant. In 2008, Higa served as an assistant coach with USA Beach Volleyball in Los Angeles. The organization selects and trains athletes for the Youth Junior National teams.
“Our new coach (Higa) is awesome and very dedicated to making us the best,” said Kim McCalmont, junior liberal studies major. “He encourages us throughout the process and relates to us well.”
Schneider received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Loyola Marymount in 1996, and in 2012 earned a master’s in coaching from the United States Sports Academy.
Schneider has worked for schools such as Hope International University as a head coach, at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., as an assistant coach, as well as Lees-McRae University as an assistant coach for a year. He was head coach at LMU immediately prior to coming to CBU.
Men’s volleyball will host University of California, Irvine, at CBU on Jan. 16. This will be the Lancers first home match as members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. UCI won the men’s volleyball national championship last season.
Olsen began his career as a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics All- American basketball player at Doane College in Crete, Neb., ranking fifth on the school’s all- time scoring list with 2,018 career points. He also played briefly with the Queens Graduates basketball club in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
“God lead me to CBU,” Olsen said. “I have been fortunate enough to travel to and live in many different and exciting places, and I am really looking forward to exploring Southern California.”
Higa can be seen coaching the women’s volleyball team in the fall season, while Larson and Schneider will coach later on in the year.