Coaching Staff

Joe White - Head Coach
2017-Present

 

Coach White was born in San Diego, California and raised in Pleasant Hill, Oregon which is just outside of Eugene, Oregon. White attended the Pleasant Hill schools through his junior year of high school. Before his senior year he transferred to Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon where he and his family moved. After graduating high school, White moved to Ashland, Oregon where he attended Southern Oregon University and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications while playing for Coach Brian McDermott and the SOU Raiders. After graduating college, White stayed in the southern Oregon area and worked while training to return overseas to play professionally again.

In 2014 Coach White moved to Tacoma, Washington where he was the Head Assistant for three years. He was pivotal in the success and rebuilding of the Tacoma Community College men’s basketball program and took them to the NWAC championship game in 2017. After his third season at Tacoma, White was hired as the Head Assistant here at Lane Community College. After one year as the Head Assistant, White will now transition forward as the Head Coach for the Lane Titans.

White played college basketball at Southern Oregon University from 2008-2012. After the 2010 season at Southern Oregon, White went on to play a season professionally for Club La Salle of Guayaquil, Ecuador. After a season as a professional in South America, White returned to SOU for two more years as a student-athlete. White graduated from Southern Oregon in 2013 with his Bachelor of Arts in Communications.

"Having the opportunity to be the Head Coach and lead this program here at Lane Community College is an absolute blessing. I am extremely excited and honored to be trusted for such a respectable position, especially here in my hometown. The thought of leading the Titans back to the top of the NWAC has been a thought of mine ever since I got into coaching at the collegiate level. This is a very unique opportunity for me to be able to be here in my hometown of Eugene and coach in front of my family and friends. I look forward to bringing the community together, raising people's awareness of Lane Community College, increasing game attendance, and helping as many people as I can here. I'm grateful for the year I spent beneath Coach Bruce Chavka last season and all that I learned from him. I'm now looking forward to bringing my best to the table and helping build a very strong and respectable reputation for Lane. I’m excited to install a championship culture here. We have hardware that needs to be brought back to Lane. Go Titans!" said Coach White.

Coach White has had players sign to move on and play at all 4-year levels in America (NCAA D1, D2, D3, NAIA D1 and D2).

 

Matt Zosel - Assistant Coach
2018-Present

"Coach Matt Zosel is in his first year as the top assistant at Lane Community College. Prior to Lane, Zosel served as director and head 17U coach for Jamal Murray Elite in Phoenix, AZ.

Before Zosel’s time in Phoenix, he was the graduate assistant for Coach Dana Altman’s Oregon Ducks. During his tenure at Oregon, the Ducks recorded their winningest 2-year stint. A period that was highlighted by runs to the Final Four and Elite Eight.

In advance of Zosel’s success at the high major level, he was Associate Head Coach at Millikin University and MacMurray College. During Zosel’s time as Associate Head Coach, he helped his respective schools to their winningest record in school history (MacMurray) and their winningest record in a decade (Millikin).

Zosel is a native of Coos Bay, OR and was a three-sport athlete who graduated from Southern Oregon University. He still holds the school record for highest career field goal percentage in SOU history. Zosel was a three time Academic all-American (2x basketball; 1x football), as well as team captain his senior year. Zosel also is a decorated war veteran (2x Bronze Stars) who served as a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment, the US Army’s elite infantry direct action raid force. He lives in Eugene with his partner Sarah Forsyth and has 2 children Gunnar and Gretchen."

 

Mike Nicksic - Assistant Coach
2018-Present
 

Mike Nicksic was raised in Kent, Washington where he was a three-sport high school athlete. Accepting a baseball scholarship at the University of Oregon, he moved to Eugene where he played both baseball and basketball for the duration of his four-year collegiate career. After graduating with a physical education degree, Coach Nicksic joined the faculty at Churchill High School and earned a master’s in education. For over thirty years, he taught in a multi-sports and games program within the physical education department and served in assistant and head coaching positions for both baseball and basketball. Upon retirement from teaching, Coach Nicksic spent five years as the head varsity basketball coach at Pleasant Hill High School.

Coach Nicksic returned to basketball as the assistant coach at Northwest Christian University in Eugene, a position he held for two years. Over the past twenty years, he has consulted with high school coaches across the state of Oregon, sharing his basketball expertise. In August of 2018, he came out of retirement for the third time to join head coach Joe White’s staff at Lane Community College.

 

 

David Brown - Assistant Coach
2018-Present

 

Coach Brown was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Detroit, Michigan. His basketball career began his junior year of High School at Evangel Christian Academy. After graduating high school, Brown attended Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI where he played basketball. In 1990 he joined the US Army and served as an Airborne Ranger and earned an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice. After his 8 year stint in the army, Brown settled in Tacoma, WA and has been in the area for over 25 years.

In 1994, Coach Brown played professional basketball overseas in Australia for the Townsville Suns. In addition, he played in the IBL League for Parkside from 1996 – 2010 and for the Seattle Mountaineers from 2006 – 2009. In 2003, Coach Brown founded the Youth Basketball Development League (YBDL) and AAU Team Swish Traveling Program with a high focus of teaching, coaching and mentoring youth basketball. Coach Brown's AAU Program has won 3 nationally ranked AAU championships and he has played a major factor with assisting over 60 Alumni players to reach their goals of playing in college, which includes three of his very own sons (University of Coastal Carolina, Tacoma Community College and Lane College).

Coach Brown has had the opportunity to coach for several semi-pro and college teams, which include Tacoma Thunder in 2005, Green River College 2015 and 2016, as well as, Tacoma Community College in 2017.

Brown has a natural fondness and passion for basketball and cherishes the satisfaction one receives from his style of coaching. This will be his first year at Lane Community College and he's very excited to see what the year has in store for him and the rest of the Titan Family.

"The addition of Coach David Brown to our Titan Family here at Lane is a very exciting and promising addition. Coach Brown is deeply connected and respected in the Tacoma community and will work hard to continue to allow us to recruit that area. I have known Coach Brown for several years and know that he is a man of high character who is always trying to help as many young men as possible." - Coach White

 

Aaron Green - Assistant Coach
2018-Present

 

 

Coach Aaron Green begins his first season as an Assistant Coach at Lane Community College under newly named Head Coach, Joe White. Coach Green was born in Southern California but raised in Eugene and attended South Eugene High School where he was a member of the varsity basketball team that made the state tournament his senior year. After graduating high school Green played for Coach Steve Spencer at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California where he helped the Pirates to one of the best seasons in school history, finishing 22-11 with a state tournament appearance.

Volunteering and charity work is a staple of Coach Green. In 2008 Green left the comforts of home to serve a two-year volunteer mission to the French speaking island of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. He has coached numerous youth teams in the Eugene area and also helps organize basketball tournaments at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem, Oregon.

Upon returning from his years abroad, Green continued his education at the University of Oregon, earning a bachelor's degree in journalism with a concentration in advertising. After graduation Green joined the corporate world where he worked in building automation and translation services. Coach Green has always kept basketball close by and in 2015 was named the Assistant Coach for the University of Oregon Men's club basketball team. The following season he became the Head Coach and in his two seasons at the helm the team recorded a 31-17 record.

"I am extremely excited to be added to Coach White's staff at Lane. I want to thank him for trusting me to be a part of the great things we will build together as I follow his leadership. Coach White's enthusiasm, determination and work ethic is contagious and incomparable. Having played at the junior college level I am eager to help the young men in our program succeed on and off the court as my prior coaches did for me as a student-athlete. I look forward to helping build the basketball program at Lane and am honored to be a Titan!" said Coach Green.

“I am very excited about the addition of Coach Green to our Titan Family here at Lane. Coach Green is a young coach with a deep passion for basketball, a tireless work ethic, and a man of strong faith. He is a man of high character who will do anything he can to help our program be the best it can be. I see a very bright coaching future for Coach Green and I know we’re lucky to have him here with us at this time.” –Coach White