John Saintignon
American sports coach and businessman (born 1965)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Saintignon (born May 6, 1965) is the former CEO of Interscholastic Licensing Company (ILC).[1] He is a professional basketball coach who has served as head coach for teams in Japan's B.League, including the Saitama Broncos and the Yamaguchi Patsfive.[2][3] He also worked as head coach of Sitra Club in Bahrain and was the men's basketball director and assistant coach for the Oregon State Beavers.[4][5]
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 6, 1965 Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico. |
| Career information | |
| College | |
| Position | Point guard and shooting guard |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| 1992–1995 | Mar Vista High School |
| 1995–2001 | Bonita Vista HS |
| 2002–2003 | Canyon del Oro HS |
| 2003–2004 | Desert Edge HS |
| 2004–2007 | Oregon State (asst.) |
| 2007–2008 | Caballeros de Culiacan |
| 2008–2009 | Stanislaus State (asst.) |
| 2009–2010 | Grant Union HS |
| 2010–2011 | Sitra Club |
| 2012 | Fuerza Guinda |
| 2016 | Culiacan Caballeros |
| 2019-2020 | Saitama Broncos |
| 2021-2023 | Yamaguchi Patriots |
| Career highlights | |
| |
Early life
Saintignon was born on May 6, 1965 in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Mexico. He was adopted as an infant and raised in Tucson, Arizona.[6]
Saintignon played college basketball at the University of California in Santa Cruz and holds the university's all-time scoring record.[7] In 1985–86, he led NCAA college basketball in scoring, averaging 31.2 points per game. He later transferred to the University of California in San Diego in 1990, where he graduated with a degree in economics.[8]
Coaching career
Saintignon's first coaching position was as a basketball coach at Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, California. He served as the varsity head coach for three seasons from 1992 to 1995, during which the team won a championship which was its first since 1964.
From 1995 to 2001, he served as head coach at Bonita Vista High School in Chula Vista. The team won the school's first CIF title in basketball under his leadership in 1999, finishing the season with a 30–5 record. In 2002, he became head coach at Canyon del Oro High School, guiding the team to the state playoffs for three consecutive seasons. After three seasons with CDO, Saintignon moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to lead the program at the new Desert Edge High School.[9] He joined the Pac-10 Conference at Oregon State University as basketball operations director and assistant coach. He then became the head coach of the Culiacan Caballeros.
Saintignon returned to NCAA Division II as the lead assistant coach at Cal State Stanislaus University. He was part of the Warriors staff from 2008 to 2009.
Saintignon coached at Grant Union High School in Sacramento, with the team qualifying for the playoffs.[citation needed]
He coached the Caballeros de Culiacan in the CIBACOPA league for a second time in 2016, taking the team to the playoffs.
For the 2019–2020 season, Saintignon coached the Saitama Broncos in Japan's B.League, with the team on track for a playoff appearance before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021–2022, Saintignon served as head coach of the newly established Yamaguchi Patsfive, the first professional basketball franchise in Yamaguchi Prefecture.[10]
Books
Personal life
Saintignon lives with his wife Angelica and has two sons in California.