Nike Basketball Camp Las Positas College

Las Positas has become a perennial playoff contender and developed a strong reputation for transferring players on to the 4-year level, with 14 players transferring on scholarship since 2015, including 3 at the NCAA Division 1 level. After leading the Hawks to the CCCAA “Sweet 16” for a second straight year in 2017, the 2016-17 Hawks produced a school record 22-win season and were ranked in the top 10 in the state of California throughout the year. Most importantly, Coach Giacomazzi transferred out eight players on scholarship off that team (NCAA Division 1, Division 2, and NAIA), more scholarship transfers than any community college in California. In 2015-2016, Giacomazzi took Las Positas to a record-breaking year, recording the most conference wins in school history to go with a 10 game-winning streak before earning the #4 seed in Northern California for the CCCAA State playoffs, the highest ever by a Las Positas team. After a strong recruiting year and offseason of player development work, the Hawks entered the 2017-2018 campaign as one of the top teams in California, ranked 3rd in Northern California and 7th in the state according to the CCCMBCA preseason coaches poll.

Before being hired at Las Positas, Giacomazzi was the head coach at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento for 11 years. During his tenure at Cosumnes, Giacomazzi's teams won two Big 8 Conference titles, reached the postseason six times, and made five appearances in the CCCAA Sweet Sixteen. After his first full recruiting year, Giacomazzi averaged 20 wins per season over 10 years. In his final year at CRC (2014-­15), he led the team to a 23­-8 overall record with a 12­-2 conference mark en route to winning the Big 8 championship, widely considered one of the most competitive conferences in California. He was named the Big 8 Coach of the Year twice (2009-­10, 2014-­15). His 209 career victories at the school put him near the top of the record book at CRC for head coaching wins.

Giacomazzi has a long track record of graduating players and helping them earn scholarships at the next level. He has coached seven first-­team All-State players and 23 First Team All-Conference players at Las Positas and Cosumnes River. Including his seven years as an assistant coach at San Jose City College (four of which he also served as the team's athletic advisor), 69 of Giacomazzi's players have transferred to four-year colleges with scholarships (19 Division I, 50 Division II/NAIA). Six of his players have gone on to play professionally. In the classroom, over 90% of Coach Giacomazzi’s players who exhausted their eligibility at Cosumnes River graduated/transferred and moved on to four­-year institutions on scholarship, while four of his players were named Academic All-Americans.

Prior to his work at CRC, Giacomazzi served as an assistant coach at San Jose City College under Hall of Fame head coach Percy Carr. Giacomazzi assisted in recruiting and coaching a team that finished 29-­5 and had the longest winning streak in the nation with 24 consecutive victories in 1999-­00. The following year, he helped guide the 2000-­01 team to a 32-­6 record and to the televised state championship game on Fox Sports. Both teams went undefeated in league play during those two seasons, finishing 24­-0, and won two conference championships. During Giacomazzi’s six­-year tenure at SJCC, 26 out of 29 (90%) student­-athletes graduated and received scholarships at various four­-year universities across the country.

As a player, Giacomazzi enjoyed a successful career at UC Riverside, earning All-­Conference honors his senior year. Prior to playing for the Highlanders, Giacomazzi played for Coach Carr at San Jose City College, where his teams compiled a two-­year record of 57-12. He also helped lead the Jaguars to two consecutive Golden Gate Conference titles. At the high school level, Giacomazzi played for head coach Guin Boggs at Washington High in Fremont.

Coach Giacomazzi graduated from UC Riverside in 1998 with a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Political Science and History. In 2001, Giacomazzi received his Master’s degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Human Performance/Sport Management from San Jose State University.

Coach Giacomazzi is a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the California Community College Men’s Basketball Coaches Association (CCCMBCA). In addition to his teaching duties in the Kinesiology department, he also serves as the men’s basketball representative for the Coast-North Conference, CCCMBCA Hall of Fame Director, and Associate Athletic Director at Las Positas. He currently resides in Livermore with his wife Kristi, their daughters Addison (8) and Devyn (5), and their dog, Jake.

Coach Whittenburg works primarily with the team’s guards in their overall skill development. In the off-season, he assists with recruiting and fundraising efforts, including directing the summer youth basketball camps, clinics, high school summer league, and leading team workouts. During the season, he works in a variety of capacities including scouting, recruiting, on-floor coaching, and leading film breakdowns.

Whittenburg brings coaching experience from the four-year level, working as an assistant coach for two seasons in Oregon at his alma mater, Northwest Christian University. He has also coached high school basketball throughout the Bay Area for four seasons, most recently as an assistant with Nor-Cal champion and state runner-up, San Francisco University HS. As head frosh coach, he led the team to a 15-5 record. Prior to that, he served as head varsity coach at Cornerstone Christian High School, taking over a program with zero wins the previous season to earning a sectional playoff appearance the following year.

At the prep level, he played for the Oakland Soldiers AAU program under Al Attles Jr. He was a First Team All-League player as a junior and senior at Berean Christian High School (2001-2003), setting four school records in free throw shooting and three-point shooting, playing for Contra Costa Times Coach of the Year, Don Menez. He continued his playing career at Los Medanos College for two years under Derek Domenichelli, where he led the Bay Valley Conference in three-point percentage as a sophomore and reached the state regional playoffs both seasons, including a Sweet 16 appearance.

Whittenburg went on to receive a scholarship to Northwest Christian University in Oregon, where he earned a B.A. in Communication. He was a two-year starter at shooting guard and named to the Academic All-Conference team, finishing his senior year ranked second in school history for most three-pointers made, in addition to scoring over 1,000 points in his college career. His senior year was highlighted by scoring 20 points at the University of Oregon and hitting consecutive game-winning shots at the William Jessup University Invitational Tournament, being named tournament MVP and Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Week. The team's 18 wins in 2009 lead to the school's best finish in conference history at the NAIA level.

After college, Whittenburg went on to compete at the semi-pro level for the Oakland Showtime (currently Bay Area Matrix) in the ABA and the Tualatin Rainmakers in Oregon.

He currently resides in Walnut Creek with his wife, Kathryn. Whittenburg completed his master’s degree in Exercise Science through California University of Pennsylvania and serves as an adjunct instructor in the Kinesiology department at Las Positas. He also works as a private basketball trainer and youth camp director with CoachUp.