George Nessman

George Nessman
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Athletic director
Team Justin-Siena High School
Conference CIF North Coast Section
Biographical details
Born March 22, 1959
Stamford, Connecticut
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1981–1984
1984–1993
1993–2001
2002–2004
2004–2005
2005–2013
2013–2014		 Salesian HS (XC/track)
De La Salle HS
Porterville CC
Bakersfield CC
California (asst.)
San Jose State
Harker HS (asst. boys' JV)
Administrative career (AD unless noted)
1995–2001
2014–present		 Porterville CC
Justin-Siena HS
Head coaching record
Overall 203–106 (junior college)
86–161 (college)
Tournaments 4–3 (CCCAA)
0–1 (CBI)
Accomplishments and honors

Championships

California Community College Athletic Association (2000)

Awards

  • California Community College Coach of the Year (2000)
  • Inducted Porterville College Athletic Hall of Fame (2004)

George Raymond Nessman II (born March 22, 1959)[1] is an American athletic administrator and former college basketball coach who is the current athletic director at Justin-Siena High School. Nessman coached at the high school and community college levels before becoming an assistant basketball coach at California in 2004. From 2005 to 2013, Nessman was the men's basketball head coach at San Jose State. He was also athletic director at Porterville College from 1995 to 2001 while also serving as men's basketball head coach.

Coaching career

Salesian High School cross country and track

Nessman began coaching at the high school level after graduating from Berkeley: from 1981 to 1984, he coached cross country running and track and field at Salesian High School in Richmond, California.[2]

De La Salle High School basketball

From 1984 to 1993, he coached varsity basketball at De La Salle High School in Concord, California. The De La Salle basketball team under Nessman had a 155-40 record, one section and five conference championships, and four appearances in the NorCal tournament, including a runner-up finish in 1993. Jon Barry and Brent Barry, the sons of Rick Barry who would later play in the National Basketball Association, played at De La Salle under Nessman.[3][4]

Porterville CC and Bakersfield CC head coach

Next, Nessman coached basketball at the community college level. From 1993 to 2001, Nessman coached basketball at Porterville College and was also athletic director at the school from 1995 to 2001. During his eight seasons there, the team went 188-68, including a 33-4 state championship season in 2000, when Nessman was named California Community College Coach of the Year. Porterville had a 40-game win streak from January 2000 to February 2001.[4]

In November 2000, the state Commission on Athletics placed Porterville on probation for a season due to improper benefits provided to men's basketball players.[5] The next month, Nessman became interim head coach for Porterville's women's basketball team.[6]

Nessman left the coaching position to become an academic advisor for athletics from 2001 to 2002 and then became head basketball coach of Bakersfield College for two years until 2004. Bakersfield went 30-32 under Nessman.[4]

California assistant coach

Nessman returned to his alma mater UC Berkeley for the 2004-2005 to be an assistant coach and recruiter for the California Golden Bears men's basketball team.[2]

San Jose State head coach

San Jose State University appointed Nessman as men's basketball head coach in March 2005, and Nessman was the only WAC coach with two master's degrees.[2] The San Jose State Spartans finished the 2004-2005 season with a 6-23 overall record under coach Phil Johnson.[3] San Jose State's athletic director at the time was Tom Bowen, who was previously athletic director at Concord's De La Salle High School when Nessman was varsity basketball coach there.[7]

Nessman's first season was the first time the Spartans signed a player directly from a San Francisco Bay Area high school in 21 years.[8] The Spartans finished 2005-2006, Nessman's first season, 6-24 (2-14 in Western Athletic Conference play), and Nessman signed three more Bay Area players to the team for the following season.[9] Although SJSU finished 2006-2007 only 6-24 (4-12 WAC), the Spartans followed up with a 14-19 (4-12) record in 2007-2008, the best team record in 14 years.[10] In 2008, the NCAA reduced the number of scholarships for San Jose State men's basketball by two, as a result of an unsatisfactory four-year Academic Progress Rate of 886 (the minimum satisfactory APR is 925) that spanned predecessor Phil Johnson's final two seasons (2003–04 and 2004–05) and Nessman's first two seasons.[11][12]

In 2008-09, Nessman led the Spartans of San Jose State University to the most WAC road victories in eight seasons.[2]

In earning a berth to the 2011 College Basketball Invitational, Nessman became fourth basketball coach at San Jose State to lead the team to the postseason. 17 wins for the 2010-11 season were the most for the Spartans since 1980-81. However, San Jose State fell to 9–22 (1–13 in WAC play) in the 2011–12 season.[13] In the 2012-13 season, after a 9–6 start, San Jose State finished 9-20 (3–14 WAC) following the suspension of leading scorer James Kinney.[14][15] On March 13, 2013, athletic director Gene Bleymaier, who succeeded Bowen in 2012, fired Nessman.[15]

Under Nessman, San Jose State reported five consecutive years of rising four-year average Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores, including a program-best 940 in the 2011–12 season (because of a perfect one-year 1000 score).[16] However, the APR fell below 930 for the 2012–13 season, Nessman's last as head coach. As a result, the NCAA imposed sanctions on the San Jose State men's basketball program in April 2014 for the following season, including a postseason ban and reduced practice time. Athletic director Gene Bleymaier stated in response to the sanctions: "Last year, we were faced with a situation that needed to be dealt with in a major fashion. The coaching staff was not retained, and several players were not invited back for the 2013-14 season. Only four players returned from the 2012-13 team.[17]

Harker School junior varsity assistant

In the 2013–14 school year, Nessman was a junior varsity boys' basketball assistant coach at the Harker School in San Jose.[18] Harker JV finished 18–5.[19]

Justin-Siena High School athletic director

On July 1, 2014, Nessman became athletic director at Justin-Siena High School in Napa, California.[20] In Nessman's first year as athletic director, the Justin-Siena varsity football team won the CIF North Coast Section Division 4 championship.[21]

Notable players

The following players coached by Nessman went on to have professional playing careers:

Cal
De La Salle HS
Porterville CC
San Jose State

Coaching tree

These assistants or former players of Nessman have become head coaches at the collegiate or professional level:

Personal life

George Nessman graduated from De La Salle High School in Concord, California in 1977.[33] Nessman received his bachelor's degree in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981 and later two master's degrees: from San Francisco State University (1988, education) and from Saint Mary's College of California (1995, physical education and recreation).[2]

George Nessman was born in Stamford, Connecticut and moved to the Bay Area when he was nine.[2][8] He and his wife Nancy have four children: Joshua, Veronica, Peter, and John.[2]

Head coaching record

Junior college

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Porterville Pirates (Central Valley Conference) (1993–2001)
1993–94 Porterville 3–22[34] 1–11[34] T-7th[34]
1994–95 Porterville 11–19[35] 3–11[35] 7th[35] CCCAA Quarterfinals[35]
1995–96 Porterville 19–11[36][37] 8–6[37] 3rd[37]
1996–97 Porterville 27–6[32] 12–2 2nd[38]
1997–98 Porterville 29–6[39][40] 12–2 1st CCCAA Semifinals[40]
1998–99 Porterville 28–5[41] 12–2[42] T-1st[43] CCCAA Quarterfinals[41]
1999–00 Porterville 33–4 12–2 1st[44] CCCAA Champions
2000–01 Porterville 29–1[45] 13–1 1st[46] Ineligible[45]
Porterville: 179–74 73–37
Bakersfield Renegades (Western State Conference) (2002–2004)
2002–03 Bakersfield 12–18 4–8 5th (South)[47]
2003–04 Bakersfield 12–14[48] 4–8[48] 6th (South)[49]
Bakersfield: 24–32 8–16
Total: 203–106

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

College

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
San Jose State (Western Athletic Conference) (2005–2013)
2005–06 San Jose State 6–25 2–14 8th
2006–07 San Jose State 5–25 4–12 8th
2007–08 San Jose State 13–19 4–12 8th
2008–09 San Jose State 13–17 6–10 T–6th
2009–10 San Jose State 14–17 6–10 T–6th
2010–11 San Jose State 17–16 5–11 8th CBI First Round
2011–12 San Jose State 9–22 1–13 8th
2012–13 San Jose State 9–20 3–14 T–8th
San Jose State: 86–161 31–96
Total: 86–161 (.348)

References

  1. ↑ "San Jose State Coaching Staff" (PDF), 2011-12 WAC Media Guide (Western Athletic Conference), 2011: 45
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "George Nessman". San Jose State University Athletics. Archived from the original on April 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapin, Dwight (March 16, 2005). "SJSU coach starts on the run". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. D5.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "George Nessman". CalBears.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  5. ↑ Williams, Brian (November 13, 2000). "College's men's team moving on". Porterville Recorder. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  6. ↑ Williams, Brian (December 16, 2000). "Chalk Talk: Robinson out as Pirate women's mentor". Porterville Recorder. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  7. ↑ Kehe, Andy (February 10, 2006). "Former BC coach takes on Spartan mentality". Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Emmons, Mark (November 23, 2005). "New SJSU coach seeking 'new look' and more wins". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2005.
  9. ↑ Curtis, Jake (November 6, 2006). "Spartan men are set to begin again". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. C4.
  10. ↑ Curtis, Jake (November 14, 2008). "San Jose State hopes to compete for WAC basketball title". San Francisco Chroncicle. pp. D2.
  11. ↑ Morinaga, Dayton (May 7, 2008). "Three UH sports penalized". Honolulu Advertiser. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  12. ↑ "NCAA Division I 2006 - 2007 Academic Progress Rate Public Report, San Jose State University" (PDF). NCAA. August 6, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/san-jose-state/2012-schedule.html
  14. ↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/san-jose-state/2013-schedule.html
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Wilner, Jon, and Faraudo, Jeff (March 13, 2013). "San Jose State fires basketball coach George Nessman". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  16. ↑ Durkin, Jimmy (April 1, 2014). "San Jose State men's basketball expects APR sanctions". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Men's Basketball Will Incur Anticipated NCAA APR Sanctions For 2014-15". San Jose State Spartans. April 1, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  18. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20140704225044/http://www.harker.org/page.cfm?p=3321
  19. ↑ http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/harker-eagles-%28san-jose,ca%29/jv-basketball-winter-13-14/schedule.htm
  20. ↑ "Justin-Siena names new athletic director". Napa Valley Register. April 23, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  21. ↑ http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/justin-siena-braves-%28napa,ca%29/football/schedule.htm
  22. ↑ http://basketball.usbasket.com/player/Carl_Boyd/USA/Butte_Daredevils/26992
  23. ↑ http://basketball.latinbasket.com/player/Menelik_Barbary/Chile/Los_Leones_de_Quilpue/89446
  24. ↑ http://basketball.latinbasket.com/player/Oliver_Caballero/Abejas_de_Guanajuato/68291
  25. ↑ http://www.slammers.de/player-agency/men-player-list/men/darion-goins.html
  26. ↑ http://basketball.latinbasket.com/player/Lance_Holloway/Chile/Everton_de_Vina_del_Mar/89444
  27. ↑ http://basketball.eurobasket.com/player/James_Kinney/Hungary/KTE-Duna_Aszfalt/233845
  28. ↑ http://basketball.eurobasket.com/player/Chris_Oakes/Germany/Mitteldeutscher_BC_Weissenfels/91530
  29. ↑ http://basketball.eurobasket.com/player/Timothy_Pierce/Germany/BSG_Grevenbroich/66531
  30. ↑ http://www.sjsuspartans.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/050305aaa.html
  31. ↑ http://www.coscampusonline.com/2013/04/26/college-hires-new-athletic-director/
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Uphoff takes over at El Camino College". Porterville Recorder. Retrieved March 27, 2015. ... the 1997 team that went 27-6 and came within an eyelash of advancing to the State Final Eight when it lost a close game at San Jose City College in the Northern California Regional finals.
  33. ↑ "Honors for Hall of Fame Inductees and Alumnus of the Year 2012". Concord, California: De La Salle High School. June 6, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Davis, Jeff. "South Valley J.C. basketball teams have different needs for 1994-95." Fresno Bee: March 10, 1994. p. 6.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 "Central Valley Conference men's basketball preview." Fresno Bee. November 10, 1995. p. D8.
  36. ↑ Farris, Bruce. "A new Pirates' expedition." Fresno Bee: December 20, 1996. p. 9. "Last year, the team won 19 games, the first winning season since 1977."
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 "Rams beat Pirates, clinch 2nd in CVC." Fresno Bee: February 15, 1996. p. D4. Caption after photo: "Porterville took an 18-10 record, 7-5 in the CVC..."
  38. ↑ "City men wrap up CVC basketball title in style." Fresno Bee: February 23, 1997. p. D4. Accessed March 27, 2015 via NewsBank. "[Fresno] City (27-3) met preseason expectations by clinching the CVC title outright, finishing at 13-1, one game ahead of surprising Porterville..."
  39. ↑ Betterton, Terry. "Bad 'break', Renegades end Porterville's run." Fresno Bee: March 14, 1998. p. D2. Accessed March 27, 2015 via NewsBank.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Betterton, Terry. "Porterville reaches semifinals." Fresno Bee: March 13, 1998. p. D4. Accessed March 27, 2015 via NewsBank.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Robison, Ken. "Rams break Compton in OT." Fresno Bee: March 12, 1999. p. D1. Accessed March 27, 2015 via NewsBank.
  42. ↑ Robison, Ken. "Rams have that little extra to tie for CVC title." Fresno Bee: February 21, 1999. p. D4. Accessed March 27, 2015 via NewsBank.
  43. ↑ Robison, Ken. "CVC teams dominate playoff seedings." Fresno Bee: February 23, 1999. p. D3. Accessed March 27, 2015 via NewsBank.
  44. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20080726181237/http://old.coasports.org/Men_s_Basketball/standings/1322.html
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Williams, Brian (February 20, 2001). "Chalk Talk: Pirates' season ends in OT". Porterville Recorder. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  46. ↑ Williams, Brian (February 16, 2001). "Four CVC titles in a row for PC". Porterville Recorder. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  47. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20030411190826/http://www.academic.rccd.cc.ca.us/~sportsinfo/_basketball_m/02-03/state_bk_info_0203/state%20stat%20reports/m_bk_state_stand_0203.pdf
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 Evans, Jeff (February 26, 2004). "Close games proved costly to Renegades". Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  49. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20041231160929/http://www.coasports.org/Western_State/wscbskt_030104.pdf

External links