Aldrich Announces 2026-27 Men’s Basketball Coaching Staff
6/3/2026 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's basketball head coach Griff Aldrich has announced his coaching staff ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The staff will feature Associate Head Coach Dan Engelstad with Assistant Coaches Ryan Oliver, Matt Palumbo, Noah Ralby, Chase Coleman, Graham Bousley and Aleks Abrams. Luke Toburen has also joined the staff and will oversee the program's sports performance operations.
We have been fortunate to assemble a tremendous staff with a broad range of coaching experience that spans all levels of the game, Aldrich noted. With experience ranging from the NBA, to high-major college all the way to high-level prep basketball, this group is well equipped to invest in the development of our student-athletes as we seek to build a championship program at Pepperdine. While I am thrilled with our staff's capabilities and competence, more importantly each of these men embodies the values we cherish as a program and will represent Pepperdine University very well.
Dan Engelstad joins the Waves as Associate Head Coach after spending the previous two seasons as an assistant coach at Syracuse University in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Engelstad was recruited to join Syracuse amid a successful six-year stint as the head coach at Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Md. He notably led the Mountaineers to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021, after claiming the Northeast Conference Championship. Engelstad also served as the head coach at Southern Vermont College, where he led the Mountaineers to an impressive 104-34 overall record in five seasons. During that span, Engelstad's team claimed four NECC Championships while he earned three NECC Coach of the Year awards.
Engelstad began his coaching career with assistant coaching stints at Mount St. Mary's (2007-10) and Holy Cross (2010-13). He helped Mount St. Mary's claim the 2007-08 NEC title, where the program earned its first ever NCAA Tournament victory with a first round win over Coppin State. Engelstad played his college basketball at St. Mary's (Md.), where he was a team captain for the Seahawks, earning his bachelor's degree in political science in 2007.
Ryan Oliver joins Aldrich's staff following a four-year stint with the San Antonio Spurs. Most recently, Oliver served as Player Development Assistant & Video Coordinator helping the Spurs to a 62-20 record and a berth in this year's NBA Finals.
Oliver's coaching career also includes stops at college and leading prep programs. Oliver has served on the staffs at UC Davis, Glendale College and Clark University as well at perennial prep power Northfield Mount Hermon in Maine.
A native of Los Angeles, California, Oliver played his prep basketball at Loyola High School. Oliver then became a four-year letterwinner at Siena from 2012-16, where he earned his bachelor's degree in marketing. He went on to play professionally for two seasons in Ireland, before earning his master's degree in education from Missouri in 2019.
Matt Palumbo joins the staff as an assistant coach following three seasons at Providence College in the Big East Conference. He spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach after joining the Friars in 2023 as special assistant to the head coach, under Kim English.
His first season with the Friars saw the program reach the NIT, as Palumbo also helped develop NBA lottery pick Devin Carter who was selected 13th in the 2024 NBA Draft after earning BIG EAST Player of the Year in 2024.
Prior to his stint at Providence, Palumbo spent two seasons on the staff at George Mason University in the Atlantic 10 Conference under English. The Patriots saw tremendous growth during Palumbo's time at George Mason resulting in a 20-win season during his 2nd year on staff.
Palumbo was a member of the University of Virginia basketball program as an undergraduate manager from 2017-2021. Palumbo served as head manager his final two seasons and suited up for the Cavaliers versus in-state foe James Madison University. Palumbo assisted in a broad range of areas, including as a scout team player, video, scouting and other administrative tasks.
Noah Ralby joins Aldrich's staff as an assistant coach following two seasons at Cal Poly Pomona in the same role. In his first season with the Broncos, he helped the program to an 18-11 record and its first CCAA Tournament berth in three seasons.
Prior to his stint in Pomona, Ralby spent the 2023-24 season as the Video & Analytics Coordinator for the University of Washington. The Huskies posted a 17-15 record that season with a pair of All-Pac-12 honorees.
Ralby spent the two previous seasons as the Director of Analytics at Utah State. He helped the Aggies to an NCAA Tournament berth in 2023 following an NIT appearance in his first season in Logan, Utah.
He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UMBC for two seasons, where he helped the Retrievers claim the second-ever regular season championship in school history in 2021.
Ralby was a standout guard at Johns Hopkins University from 2014-18, helping the Blue Jays to a 71-32 overall record during his career. The squad won the Centennial Conference regular season and tournament titles in his senior campaign, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Ralby earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Johns Hopkins before getting his master's degree in entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership from UMBC.
Chase Coleman comes to Malibu after spending the 2025-26 campaign as an assistant coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. In his lone season at Navy, Coleman helped the Midshipmen to a 26-8 overall record, which included a 17-1 mark in conference play and a Patriot League regular season championship. The Mids went on to play in the NIT, the program's first postseason appearance since 1998.
Coleman spent the prior two seasons on the coaching staff at the University of Virginia under Tony Bennett (2023-24) and Ron Sanchez (2024-25). The Cavaliers posted a 38-28 record during that time, including an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023-24.
Coleman was a four-year letterwinner at Virginia from 2019-23. Virginia logged an 87-36 record which included a 56-22 mark in ACC play across Coleman's career, as he appeared in a pair of NCAA Tournaments to go along with an NIT Quarterfinal run in 2022. Coleman was also an ACC Academic Honor Roll recipient in each of his four seasons as a student-athlete in Charlottesville.
Graham Bousley joins the Pepperdine staff as assistant coach following a three-year stint as the head coach at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego. Bousley recorded a 58-32 record with the Dons, and will now return to the collegiate coaching ranks on Aldrich's staff.
His most recent collegiate stint came at Longwood University where he was an assistant coach on Aldrich's staff. During his lone season at Longwood, the Lancers recorded a second-straight 20 win season and finished 2nd in the Big South. Bousley has also served as an assistant at George Washington University in the Atlantic 10 Conference, where he served for three years and was the program's offensive coordinator.
Prior to George Washington, Bousley was an assistant at Siena University. During his time there, Bousley helped recruit and develop future NBA draft pick Jalen Pickett. The Saints went on to set a program record for three-pointers made (288) while ranking top-10 in the country in fewest turnovers offensively.
Bousley also spent two seasons on staff at Mount St. Mary's from 2016-18, helping guide the Mountaineers to an NEC regular season and tournament championship in 2017.
Before joining Mount St. Mary's, Bousley served as director of basketball operations at Rice from 2014-16 under Mike Rhoades. He began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant at Virginia Commonwealth University from 2012-14 under Shaka Smart, helping the Rams to two NCAA Tournament appearances and 53 victories.
Bousley graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2012, earning his bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering and history while serving as head student manager of the men's basketball team.
Aleks Abrams joins the staff as assistant coach - operations, following two seasons at Bowling Green University, where he served as special assistant to the head coach. Abrams helped the Falcons to consecutive winning seasons, including the program's first power conference win in 20 years this past season, defeating Kansas State.
Abrams also brings experience from the NBA, having spent the 2023-24 season with the Los Angeles Lakers as Video and Player Development Coaching Associate. The season prior, he served as an assistant coach at Warner Pacific University.
He brings prior experience in the WCC as well, having served as Director of Basketball Operations at Portland for the 2021-22 campaign. Abrams was also a graduate assistant at Santa Clara for two seasons, from 2019-21.
Abrams began his collegiate playing career at Cal Poly, playing in 88 games with 18 starts from 2014-18. He went on to play one season at Miami (OH) in 2018-19, appearing in 31 games for the RedHawks.
Abrams is a Southern California native from Westlake Village and was a three-year letterwinner for Oaks Christian High School.
Luke Toburen joins the staff as assistant coach - sports performance, overseeing the program's sports performance/strength & conditioning. Toburen spent the past four seasons as director of basketball performance at Longwood, bringing prior experience with Coach Aldrich.
Prior to Longwood, Toburen served on the sports performance staff at the University of Virginia. Toburen trained under Mike Curtis, noted to be one of the leading basketball-focused sports performance coaches in the country. Toburen assisted in all aspects of the team's performance training program in Charlottesville.
Toburen graduated from Grove City with a bachelor's degree in exercise science in 2016 and earned his master's degree in exercise physiology from Virginia in 2022.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE MEN'S BASKETBALL
Pepperdine men's basketball has made 13 NCAA postseason appearances while earning 12 WCC Regular-Season Championships and three WCC Tournament Championships in its history. This success has spanned multiple decades, with the Waves most recently winning the 2021 CBI Tournament. The program has also seen 19 All-Americans along with 19 NBA players, which included a streak of 34 consecutive seasons with at least one alum on an NBA roster from 1976-2011.
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