Meet Brandon Cole

There are quite the number of community colleges in and around the Sacramento area with Sierra College being one although it is actually located in Placer County. That's where Brandon Cole plys his trade as an assistant basketball coach.

"I loved basketball when I was growing up," the 6-foot-4 Cole recalled. "My brother got me into it." That was back in Milwaukee. He then attended Sierra College, captaining the team as a sophomore and leading the Wolves in scoring and rebounding. He transferred and played at Dakota State before injuring his knee and finished his basketball eligibility at Ashford University in Iowa where he earned All-Midwest Collegiate Conference academic status.

(Cole surrounded by his Ashford University coaches)

"My ultimate goal is becoming a D1 head coach," Cole explained and "to reach my goal, I just have to work and use knowledge effectively. I have so much to learn but I'm surrounded here [at Sierra College] by head coaches. Bobby Andreasen was the top assistant at Chico State for nine years, Aaron Muhic was the head coach for 13 years at William Jessup University. [Sierra Head Coach] John Fusano worked under Brian Katz at San Joaquin Delta College and also at the coaching staff at Pacific with Bob Thomason.

The head recruiter at Sierra College, Cole offered, "I've always been a cerebral player, figuring out how to outsmart people. Even as a player, I watched a lot of film and continued to learn and develop an IQ."

About bringing in talent, Cole said, "we recruit the person, someone who wants to be part of a family. It's all about your culture and what you believe in. When you have a certain culture, kids have to decide if they want to be part of it. If they don't, they'll become the odd man out rather than bring it down. Coach Fusano is huge on family. We have team BBQs, shoot pool together, go bowling and whitewater rafting. But are our kids perfect? No, they make mistakes like the rest of us."

Another important aspect that Cole discussed is "we don't recruit players who tweet inappropriately. That hurts your chances." He maintains a strong Twitter and social media presence of his own while reading others. "I'll be talking with kids and sometimes they are surprised what I know about them. I say 'I know more than you think.'"

 Cole also acts as a sounding board for kids. "I didn't have much guidance in decision-making when I was growing up. I had no big brother or father figure. If I can help a kid, I will. It's all about moving kids on to the next level even if they play one year and move on. That may hurt us [as a program] but no one grows up saying they want to play JC basketball."

Moving student-athletes on is a Sierra College specialty. "Coach Fusano has a 98% transfer rate since he's been at Sierra and in the last 4 years since I've been there we've had a 100% transfer rate, including at least one freshman transferring every year."