Chris Victor

Amidst guiding Seattle University men’s basketball through a historically successful season, Chris Victor was named the Redhawks’ head coach, Director of Athletics Shaney Fink announced on March 1, 2022. Victor, who hasd served as interim head coach during the 2021-22 season, is the 18th head coach in Seattle University history.

Taking the helm of the program as interim head coach days before the 2021-22 season began, Victor led the Redhawks to their first ever Western Athletic Conference regular season title and a 23-9 overall record. The run through the 2021-22 season included a 9-4 non-conference record, 17-2 home record and a nine-game win streak that included an 8-0 start to WAC play for the first time in 10 years competing in the league. Victor's Redhawks took just 26 games to reach 20 wins, marking the 15th 20-win season in program history. The 23-win marker was last achieved in 1957-58 and is the most wins by a Seattle U coach in their first season.

Victor was named Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year and District 6 Coach of the Year following the 2021-22 season. He was also named a finalist for the 2022 Joe B. Hall and Hugh Durman Coach of the Year awards. The Joe B. Hall award is presented annually to the top first-year coach in Division I college basketball. The Hugh Durham award, is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major coach in college basketball.

The 2022-23 season brought continued success as Victor's Redhawks notched the 20-win marker for a second consecutive season, marking the first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1963-64. Along the way, the program earned its first appearance in a Division I national poll since the 1964-65 season, receiving votes in the Jan. 23 USA Today Sports Men's Basketball Coaches Poll, while also earning the highest NET ranking in the ranking system's history, coming in at No. 61 to start the year.

Victor served four seasons as an associate head coach at Seattle U beginning in 2017-18 when the Redhawks finished 20-14 overall, 16-3 on their home court, 8-6 in WAC play and earned a berth in the Collegiate Basketball Invitational (CBI). Seattle U returned to the postseason in 2018-19, competing in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Redhawks combined for 26 wins over the shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

Prior to Seattle U, Victor served as an assistant coach at Eastern Washington for two seasons. His first season on the Eagle coaching staff was punctuated by Eastern’s first-ever victory in a national postseason tournament as a member of NCAA Division I when the Eagles beat Pepperdine, 79-72, in the College Basketball Invitational. The Eagles went 22-12 and returned to the CBI in 2016-17.

Victor’s first head coaching position was at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif., where he led the Owls of the Western State Conference and California Community College Athletic Association to 103 victories over five seasons. He won 73 percent of his games overall (103-39) and 73 percent in league play (44-16) with a pair of CCCAA Final Four appearances and one league title.

Victor spent four seasons as a top assistant at Concordia University in Irvine, Calif., under Head Coach Ken Ammann. In that span, Concordia went 118-23, won three out of four Golden State Athletic Conference Championships and made four-straight appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, including appearing in the national title game in 2006-07.

Prior to his coaching career, Victor was a decorated player at Concordia, playing a key role in helping the Eagles advance to the NAIA championship game in both 2003 and 2004. In the 2003 title game, Victor scored a season-high 26 points and dished out nine assists as he helped lead Concordia to its first national championship in program history. Victor helped his school to a 90-21 record, and is ranked in the top 10 all-time in points and 3-pointers, and is third all-time in assists and steals for Concordia.

He received his bachelor of arts degree in 2004 as a business marketing major with a mathematics minor. He earned his master’s degree from Concordia in 2010 in coaching and athletic administration. Victor and his wife, Sara, have one son, Leo.