According to Mike Bibby’s bio on the Sacramento State website, his alma mater is UNLV. Indeed, Bibby completed his degree work at UNLV, almost 20 years after leading Arizona to the 1998 NCAA championship as a freshman.
Bibby is taking a huge chance by coaching the Big Sky Conference club. Sacto State has had just two winning seasons since 1992. It averaged just 649 fans at home games last season when it finished 7-25.
Mike Bibby, center, is introduced as the new head basketball coach of Sacramento State during a press conference, April 1, 2025 in Sacramento, Calif.
Predictably, Bibby was busy in the transfer portal, bringing in players from USC, Indiana State, UCF, South Florida and UNLV. His most high-profile recruit is Shaqir O'Neal, son of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, who is now listed as the GM of the Sacramento State basketball program. Shaqir averaged 6.7 points last season at Florida A&M. He previously played at Texas Southern.
Bibby has coaching experience. He was part of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies NBA Summer League teams. And he coached with the NBA G League Elite team for a year. He also coached Shadow Mountain High School to five Arizona state championships. At 48, Bibby has scheduled nonconference games against UCLA, Cal and Baylor. His team was picked to finish seventh of 10 teams in the Big Sky preseason poll.
