Donovan Terblanche
City Times
City Knights basketball team head coach Mitch Charlens sweeps the awards for the 2008-09 season.
For Charlens’ first of two awards, he was named coach of the year in the Pacific Coast Conference.
This is an award bestowed upon the coach for his efforts in the Pacific Coast Conference. The PCC and all competing schools in the San Diego Community College District who have a basketball team are responsible for compiling the votes. There are almost 100 community colleges in Southern California that have basketball teams who host games. It is the first time this award had been given to Charlens, and it was due to his hard work this season.
The City Knights would finish the regular season 15-1 in the PCC and 26-4 overall.
This is the second time Coach Charlens has won the PCC Championships.
“I think it was an incredible season, we were amazing all year,” Charlens said.
On March 12, the California Community College Athletics Association awarded the Coach of the Year in Southern California to Coach Charlens.
The coach now is in his fifth year at City and has created a winning team in his short tenure here, the work ethic he has instilled in his players is very demanding and every practice is treated as though it were a game.
Charlens took over a losing basketball team and immediately set about reversing City’s fortunes. Coach Charlens would lead the Knights to victory, claiming the PCC championship in the 2004-05 season, followed by another championship this year.
This is an award bestowed upon the coach for his efforts in the PCC games.
Coaches from all the participating schools in the San Diego community college areas cast the votes. And there is no higher honor than that of your peers.
The work ethic he has instilled in his players is very demanding and every practice is treated as though it were a game.
The unity in the team is a direct result of the coaches training methods, and we have a strong cohesive crew.
The amount of time he spends going over tape, and on the court in practice is demanding as he commands only the best from his players.
Charlens played ball at University City High school, moving onto Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.
Charlens played at San Francisco State University; once his university career was over he took up coaching and found his calling in life.
The amount of time he spends going over tape, and on the court in practice is demanding as he commands only the best from his players.
Charlens said he is pleased to be back home as he was originally from San Diego.
Having played ball here, his playing career would see him moving up north.
The coach would start coaching at varsity men’s in San Francisco and graduate to an assistant coach at SFSU.
Charlens would take on a position as an assistant coach at Chico State prior to coaching at The College of the Sequoias for two years, in which time they would attain their best record.
The next leg in his journey would see the coach ending up at City College and guiding us to two PCC championships in his short five years with San Diego City.
Charlens has been able to lead his team to victory with the help of several assistants.
Bob Andreason, who is assistant coach primarily responsible for recruiting, found his footing as an assistant at Chico State for a number of years.
Jerome Sherman is the other assistant along with Joe D’ambro.
This collective unit has allowed the men’s Knights to advance to victory.
The Knghts now take a break and resume next winter.
