Eric Olen

Eric Olen

Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	UC San Diego
Conference	Big West
Record	213–116 (.647)
Biographical details
Born	(1980-10-15) October 15, 1980 (age 44) Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Playing career
1999–2004	Spring Hill
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2004–2013	UC San Diego (assistant)
2013–present	UC San Diego
Head coaching record
Overall	213–116 (.647)
Tournaments	5–4 (NCAA DII) 0–1 (CBI)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
3 CCAA regular season (2017, 2019, 2020) 4 CCAA tournament (2017–2020)
Awards
Big West Coach of the Year (2024) 2× CCAA Coach of the Year (2017, 2020)

Eric Olen (born October 15, 1980)[1] is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the UC San Diego Tritons.[2]

Playing career

Olen played at Spring Hill College, where he was part of three-straight Badgers' NAIA national tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2000.[2]

Coaching career

Olen would join his former college coach Bill Carr as an assistant at UC San Diego in 2004, and would stay in the role until 2013 before being promoted to head coach after then head coach Chris Carlson left for an administrative role with the West Coast Conference.[3][4] Olen has since led the Tritons to three CCAA regular season titles and four consecutive conference tournament titles in addition to four NCAA Division II tournament appearances.[2] He guided the Tritons men's basketball program into its status in NCAA Division I as members of the Big West Conference beginning in 2020-21.[5]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
UC San Diego Tritons (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (2013–2020)
2013–14	UC San Diego	15–11	11–11	7th
2014–15	UC San Diego	16–11	14–8	T-4th
2015–16	UC San Diego	24–8	15–5	2nd	NCAA Division II West Region Final
2016–17	UC San Diego	27–6	17–3	1st	NCAA Division II West Region Final
2017–18	UC San Diego	21–11	15–7	T-3rd	NCAA Division II West Region Quarterfinal
2018–19	UC San Diego	26–8	17–5	T-1st	NCAA Division II West Region Semifinal
2019–20	UC San Diego	30–1	21–1	1st
UC San Diego Tritons (Big West Conference) (2020–present)
2020–21	UC San Diego	7–10	4–8
2021–22	UC San Diego	13–16	7–11	8th
2022–23	UC San Diego	10–20	5–13	9th
2023–24	UC San Diego	21–12	15–5	2nd	CBI First Round
2024–25	UC San Diego	13–2	3–0
UC San Diego:		223–116 (.658)	144–77 (.652)
Total:		223–116 (.658)
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

References

1. Heidi VanDerveer [@Hoops4Heidi] (October 15, 2020). "Wishing a Happy Birthday to @CoachEricOlen this cute little boy turned into a hooper, evolved into an excellent coach and an even better person. I am lucky to work with him and more fortunate to call him my friend! @UCSDtritons @UCSDmbb @UCSDwbb" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
2. "Eric Olen - Head Coach - Men's Basketball Coaches". University of California, San Diego.
3. "Eric Olen Takes Over as UC San Diego Head Men's Basketball Coach". goccaa.org.
4. Guardian Staff (October 21, 2013). "UCSD Names New Head Coach".
5. "UC San Diego makes it official: It's joining Div. I, Big West". San Diego Union-Tribune. November 27, 2017.