Saddleback's Ground named male sport Coach of the Year

Saddleback men's basketball coach Andy Ground was named as the 2014-2015 Orange Empire Conference male sport Coach of the Year in voting by the conference's athletic administrators.

Ground, who recently completed his seventh season as the head coach of the Gauchos, has led his team to the post-season playoffs each year.  Saddleback was the state runners-up in his first season in 2009 and then captured the state championship in 2010 before repeating the state title in 2015.

From his 2014-15 squad, all five starters were named to the first-team all-conference list and Ground was named as the Coach of the Year for men's basketball for the fourth consecutive season.  His team posted a 33-2 overall record, winning four non-conference tournaments before posting an 11-1 record in conference play, and wrapping up the season with five consecutive playoff victories.

Saddleback had a 2.83 cumulative team GPA during the season, including 11 players with a 3.0-or-higher GPA.  Seven players - all five sophomores and two freshmen - have moved on to compete at the four-year level, including Dusty Baker (Weber State), Maleke Haynes (University of Pacific), Conor Clifford (Washington State), Collin Host (CSU San Marcos), Andrew Bournes (CSU San Marcos), Kyle Hoag (Hope University), and Carlos Jimenez (William Jessup). 

Clifford was the Orange Empire Conference MVP and named as the CCCAA Player of the Year while Baker was named as the state tournament MVP.

Ground has five conference titles and two runner-up finishes in seven seasons at the helm.  He has posted a 189-42 overall record and is 71-13 in conference games.