Hope International University is proud to welcome Beck Flanagan into the fold as the newest member of the HIU Athletics Department. Flanagan joins the Royals as the new head coach of the women’s basketball program and will helm the program beginning June 1 heading into the 2017-18 academic year.
Flanagan joins the HIU staff after completing five years as an assistant coach with the Loyola University New Orleans Wolf Pack. Flanagan served as the recruiting coordinator for the women’s basketball program and was named the NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in 2016 after helping the Wolf Pack to their second-straight SSAC Tournament title and a spot in the NAIA National Championship in 2015-16. While on staff at Loyola, Flanagan helped guide the team to four seasons with 23 or more wins, four conference titles, and developed the winningest recruiting class in Loyola history with a 99-31 (.761) overall record in four seasons. Loyola was awarded two SSAC Coach of the Year recognitions while Flanagan was on staff in 2014 and again in 2017.
When asked about what led him to take the open coaching position, Coach Flanagan replied “My coaching friend Alan Nakamura (head coach at Biola) was the person that told me about the job and I’ve had a dream to run my own program – my fiancé and I are both from California so it was a great situation to be close to family and lead the program. I’ve been very appreciative of all the opportunities that led me to this point and I’m humbled to have this opportunity to lead the program at HIU.
“I know that John Turek [the HIU Athletic Director] would like to see the program move in a positive direction and I admire his leadership,” Flanagan continued on to remark. “My goals are similar to his – I want to build a championship program and we’ll start by recruiting, bringing in strong players that will represent HIU well on and off the court. I talked to some of the returning players already and they sound really excited about working hard and trying to get better, which is a great sign – I think we need to add depth to this roster at several positions so we’ll make sure to recruit quality players that can help us.”
Coach Flanagan comes from a Wolf Pack program that averaged better than 76 points per game offensively and outscored opponents by almost 17 points each night. “I like to play fast, up-tempo – I’ve worked with our post players [at Loyola] because that was what the program needed, but I love to coach guard play as well. We’ll work with the players that we have [available] to find the system that will be successful for the roster and as we build the recruiting classes in the future ultimately I like to play aggressive, fast-paced basketball,” Coach Flanagan said when asked about his preferred style of play.
Flanagan is originally a native of Los Angeles, California and arrived at Loyola from Alcorn State where he served as an assistant coach for the men’s program. He has also served as the women’s basketball assistant coach at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.
Prior to his collegiate coaching career, Flanagan was a high school coach for seven years. He was the head girls’ varsity coach at San Pasqual High School for three years, recording three consecutive 20+ win seasons with an overall record of 65-26 and three playoff appearances.
Flanagan also worked as a physical education teacher and boys’ basketball varsity head coach at Delphi Academy in Lake View Terrace, CA for four years. Flanagan led his team to three league championships and consecutive winning seasons with an overall record of 60-35 and four straight appearances in the CIF-SS playoffs, earning recognition as the CIF Coach of the Year in 2005-06.
“I actually got into coaching by accident – I took my younger brother to his tryout for youth league and the coach said they were short on coaches,” Flanagan said when asked about his start in the field. “The commissioner of the league had been my coach when I was playing on the youth teams so I volunteered – I like to give back to the community – and so I got to coach my younger brother. I really enjoyed the first season, the second year we had some success and won a championship, and after that I was hooked.”
Because family connections first exposed him to coaching basketball, Coach Flanagan strives to incorporate that type of dynamic into his teams. “As much as possible, [we should] have a family atmosphere for the student-athletes, to have that sense of community so the players are in a position where they can succeed and they have a support system that keeps them happy, supported, and working hard to be the best that they can be.”
Coach Flanagan is an alumnus of San Diego State University and graduated with magna cum laude honors. He is currently working to complete a Master’s in Business Administration at Loyola and will be getting married in June to Amy Jacobson.
