Marty Wilson

Lamar “Marty” Wilson joined the Golden Bears as an assistant coach for Wyking Jones in April 2018, and was the lone member of the coaching staff retained after Mark Fox was hired as Cal’s head coach in March 2019. He is in his fifth season on staff at Cal.

In three seasons in Berkeley, Wilson helped the Bears through a rebuilding process. Cal went 14-18 overall with seven Pac-12 victories in 2019-20, including home sweeps of both the Mountain and Washington schools in 2019-20. The Bears notably upset No. 21 Colorado in Berkeley and capped off the 2019-20 season with a victory over rival Stanford at the Pac-12 Tournament before the postseason was cut short due to COVID-19. Despite a 9-20 overall mark in 2020-21, the Bears picked up yet another Pac-12 Tournament victory over rival Stanford in the first round and secured key regular-season victories over Colorado, Utah and San Francisco. With three years of help from Wilson, Matt Bradley earned an All-Pac-12 Second Team nod in consecutive seasons as a sophomore (2019-20) and junior (2020-21).

Year four for Wilson in Berkeley saw Cal post a 12-20 overall record with three Bears earning All-Pac-12 postseason honors, including honorable mentions for senior forward Andre Kelly and graduate guard Jordan Shepherd. Forward Sam Alajiki became the first Bear to earn an All-Freshman Team (honorable mention) recognition since 2016-17. An emphatic 78-64 win at Oregon helped Cal secure its first road sweep of the Oregon schools since 2014 while the Bears’ improved defensive identity fueled a stifling 53-39 victory against Stanford on Senior Day. The Bears reeled off nine consecutive home wins from Nov. 15-Jan. 2, a streak that included two Pac-12 victories over Oregon State and Arizona State.

Wilson served seven seasons at the helm for his alma mater, Pepperdine, before coming to Berkeley. During his first season with the Bears, the squad ranked within the Pac-12’s top three in steals (3rd, 7.6 spg), turnover margin (2nd, +2.8), and Cal ended the regular season with three consecutive victories, sweeping the Washington schools and winning at Stanford.
In Malibu, Wilson helped transform the Waves from a 10-win team in his first season to back-to-back 18-win seasons in 2014-15 and 2015-16, marking their first consecutive winning seasons since 2001-03. Pepperdine finished fourth in the West Coast Conference in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and the 2015 squad allowed just 61.6 points and finished the season second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense (27.0 percent).

With Wilson’s tutelage, Brendan Lane was named the 2014 WCC Defensive Player of the Year, Stacy Davis earned the conference’s Newcomer of the Year award in 2013, and 13 players earned All-WCC selections. Wilson coached Golden Bear great Lamond Murray’s son, Lamond Murray Jr., to the WCC scoring crown in 2016-17. He averaged a career-best 21.4 points per game.

Off the court, Wilson helped guide 21 of his 22 student-athletes who exhausted their eligibility to degrees. Malte Kramer was the program’s first Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American and co-valedictorian at the university.

Prior to becoming head coach in 2011, Wilson served as the associate head coach for the Waves under Tom Asbury beginning in 2008. He rejoined Pepperdine after coaching stints at San Diego (1996-98), UC Santa Barbara (1998-2004) and Utah (2004-08).

As the top assistant under Bob Williams in Santa Barbara, Wilson helped the Gauchos to a divisional title in 1999, a Big West Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth in 2002, and a Big West regular-season title and NIT berth in 2003.

At Utah, Wilson helped head coach Jim Boylen guide the Utes to a 29-6 record en route to the Mountain West regular-season title and NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. The Utes finished the season ranked 18th nationally.

Following his graduation from Pepperdine in 1989, Wilson spent a year as an assistant at his high school, Simi Valley, then rejoined the Waves in 1990. During his first six seasons on the bench, Pepperdine earned NCAA Tournament berths in 1991, 1992 and 1994, and took three WCC regular-season titles (1991, 1992, 1993) plus a trio of WCC tournament titles (1991, 1992, 1994). After head coach Tony Fuller resigned in 1995-96, Wilson took over as interim head coach and guided the Waves to an upset of a Steve Nash-led Santa Clara team before Wilson departed for San Diego.

Wilson spent 21 total seasons in Malibu, compiling an impressive record that started with his time as a student-athlete. He ended his playing career for the Waves ranked fifth on the all-time assists list with 342, helping Pepperdine to the NCAA Tournament in both 1984-85 and 1985-86.

Following back-to-back season ending injuries in 1986-87 and 1987-88, Wilson returned to the lineup as the starting point guard to lead the Waves to a 20-13 record and NIT berth in his final season. Pepperdine posted a 97-58 (.626) record during his five seasons as a student-athlete.

Wilson graduated from Pepperdine in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. A native of Pacoima, Calif., Wilson was a prep standout at Simi Valley High School and was named the Marmonte League’s Most Valuable Player in his senior season.

Wilson and his wife Mayra have two children, Jessica and Jalon.