George Nessman was appointed the San Jose State University men’s basketball head coach in March 2005. As he heads into his fifth season leading the Spartans, he has positioned the program for near and long-term success in competition and in the classroom.

The accomplishments are numerous in his first four seasons. Prior to Nessman’s arrival, San Jose State only had one season in the last four with a double-digit victory total. In each of the last two years, the Spartans notched 13 wins and beat a team on the road that came into the season as a NCAA Tournament participant from the previous year. The 2008-09 team’s five road victories were the most by a Spartan team in eight seasons.

The 2007-08 team was one of the nation’s most improved based on win totals. The Spartans opened the season capturing the First Shot Exempt Tournament hosted by Middle Tennessee State. San Jose State picked up road wins against Big Sky Conference champion Portland State and topped cross-county rival Santa Clara for the first time since 2003.

The Spartans were the most successful Western Athletic Conference team in 2007-08 in games decided by four points or less with a 9-4 record. Homecourt wins over Nevada and Utah State were part of San Jose State’s first winning record at The Event Center since 2000-01. A Western Athletic Conference Tournament victory for the first time since 2002 capped the best San Jose State season in seven years.

His second season, 2006-07, clearly was one with a youth movement in place. With the third youngest team in the country based on previous major college playing experience, Nessman faced one of the nation’s most challenging schedules in 2006-07 according to the in-season Sagarin Ratings. Undaunted, his team doubled its conference win total from his first season at the helm and posted the school’s first win over conference foe Fresno State in eight years.

Nessman is the first San Jose State men’s basketball coach to successfully organize a summer overseas tour. The Spartans spent a week in the United Kingdom, experienced a different culture and won all its August 2007 games against teams from the English and British Basketball Leagues.

The United Kingdom trip is consistent with his philosophy of placing the program in the spotlight. The Spartans have traveled to Duke, Texas Tech and Michigan State with Nessman facing legendary coaches Mike Kryzyewski, Bob Knight and Tom Izzo, respectively.  

In his first season, the Spartans ended long road losing streaks both in conference and non-conference action. When the Spartans won, more often than not it was by a convincing margin. There were more close games with seven contests decided by four points or less during his first season. 

Home attendance increased by 20 percent. Away from the court, his student-athletes were much more involved in community activities. San Jose State’s recruiting focused much more on student-athletes from the Bay Area and Northern California but still attracted talented newcomers from Southern California and beyond. He became the first Spartan men’s basketball coach in 21 years to sign a Bay Area high school senior to a National Letter-of-Intent when DeVonte Thomas decided to join the program in the spring of 2005.

In his first three seasons at San Jose State, his student-athletes earned four Western Athletic Conference All-Academic awards. Center C.J. Webster was named to the 2007-08 WAC All-Newcomer team.

Nessman took over the Spartans’ position after one season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of California in 2004-05.

Entering his 22nd season as a head coach, his teams at the high school, community college and major college levels have won 393 games, placed first in a league or conference nine times and won a state championship. He is 37-86 at San Jose State.

One of his most significant coaching accomplishments was directing Porterville College to a 33-4 win-loss record, a Central Valley Conference title and the school’s first California Community College championship in 2000. Between January 2000 and February 2001, Porterville College won 40 consecutive games covering two seasons – one of the longest winning streaks in the California Community College system’s history.

The 2000 California Community College Coach of the Year produced five 20-game winners in nine seasons and a 178-76 win-loss record. Before his arrival, Porterville had four consecutive losing seasons and did not have a plus-.500 winning percentage in 11 years. Nearly 90 percent of the sophomores he coached at Porterville and Bakersfield Colleges continued their college careers at four-year institutions.

In addition to his coaching duties at Porterville, he served the school as its director of athletics from 1995 through 2001 and was the academic advisor for athletics in 2001-02.

The 1981 graduate of the University of California started his coaching career at age 22 when he was hired as the junior varsity and cross country coach at Salesian High School in Richmond, Calif.

After three seasons, he became the boys’ varsity assistant coach at Concord, California’s De La Salle High School in 1984.  Two seasons later, he took over the head coach position at De La Salle and went on to produce a 155-48 win-loss record, five conference championships, one North Coast Section crown and four appearances in the Northern California Tournament of Champions. Two of his most prominent Spartans were future NBA players Jon and Brent Barry.

The 50-year-old native of Stamford, Conn., has two master’s degrees – one in education from San Francisco State University in 1988 and a second in physical education and recreation from Saint Mary’s College in 1993. Nessman is the only current coach in the Western Athletic Conference to earn two master’s degrees. He and his wife, Nancy, have four children – Joshua, a student at San Jose State; Veronica, a student at the University of California; Peter and John.