Winning Ways
"I'm proud that the men's basketball program at Pomona-Pitzer has started to build a history and tradition," said Gregg Popovich, who handed over the reins to former assistant coach Charles Katsiaficas in 1988 after nine years in Claremont.
Kat, whose teams have won nearly 70 percent of their league games, has gone on to win five SCIAC championships.
"I created the foundation, but Coach Kat is a better coach," said Popovich who stays in close contact with the Ellsworth, Maine, native. "He has a better demeanor for NCAA, Division III. He is consistent, persevering, and demanding. He's a pretty special coach. I dreaded giving the program to somebody out of the blue who didn't know what we went through."
Katsiaficas, a Tufts University economics major and basketball captain, who also coached the Pomona-Pitzer team in 1986-87 when Popovich was on sabbatical with UNC coach Dean Smith and KU's Larry Brown, credits his mentor with "bringing the program from ground zero to respectability." He adds, "Coach Pop left me with a table that was pretty well set. We had something to sell."
