Sam Scholl, who’s been USD men’s basketball team‘s interim coach since Lamont Smith’s resignation last month, was announced Monday as the Toreros’ new basketball coach.

Scholl is the school’s 13th head coach in the program history and sixth since USD moved to the NCAA Division I in 1979.

“I am very confident that Coach Scholl is the right leader for our program in 2018 and beyond and the right leader to seize on the immediate opportunity in front of us,” USD’s athletic director Bill McGillis said. “I believe Coach Scholl, and the other members of our coaching staff, will take this talented roster of outstanding young men and win at a very high-level next season, while also cementing a strong foundation for long-term success.”

The 40-year-old Scholl has a history with the Toreros. He played ball at USD from 1998 to 2000 and spent seven seasons on the Toreros coaching staff under former coach Brad Holland. He helped the 2002-03 Toreros team take home the West Coast Conference Championship and reached the 2003 NCAA Tournament for only the third time in the school’s history.

Scholl spent eight seasons as assistant coach in Santa Clara before returning to USD in 2015. He served for three years as an assistant under Smith, his former teammate at USD. When Smith resigned after he was arrested for domestic violence charges in San Francisco in February, Scholl was named as interim coach and led the Toreros to a 2-2 record in the postseason, including a run to the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

“I am thrilled to continue this journey with the tremendous group of young men that are in our program,” Scholl said. “They are an absolute joy to work with every day and we can’t wait to continue working towards the great success that is ahead of them.”

A native of Gig Harbor, Washington, Scholl completed his undergraduate degree in Sociology at USD in 2001. Before USD, he played two seasons at Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Washington, and was the point guard on the 1996 2A Washington State championship team for Gig Harbor High School.

“Gig Harbor, Washington set the foundation for me, but the University of San Diego made me who I am today,” Scholl said. “We are going to strive to be champions’ every day on and off the floor and I can’t wait to play a role in leading our players and future Toreros to be champions in the future.”

Scholl is married and has three daughters. He will be officially introduced as the Toreros’ new coach Tuesday.

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