Mark Amaral spent seven seasons as an associate head coach for the Pepperdine men's basketball program between 2011-12 and 2017-18.
During Amaral's Pepperdine tenure, the Waves reached the top half of the WCC standings for the first time in a decade, posted their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2001-02 and 2002-03, and earned a pair of College Basketball Invitational berths in 2015 and 2016 (the program's first postseason appearance since 2002).
Before coming to Pepperdine he was the associate head coach at Cal Poly for two seasons and was an assistant coach at Colorado State for two years and at UC Santa Barbara for seven (where he and Marty Wilson were fellow assistants on the UCSB coaching staff for four seasons).
At Cal Poly, where he was in charge of scheduling, offensive structure and scouting, Amaral helped the Mustangs tie program records in 2010-11 for most Big West Conference wins (10), best finish in the Big West (second) and best seeding at the Big West Tournament (#2).
Amaral served as Colorado State's recruiting coordinator while coaching its post players in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
During his seven seasons (2001-07) as an assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara under Bob Williams, the Gauchos went 111-95 overall. UCSB won its first-ever Big West Conference Tournament title in 2002 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In 2003, the Gauchos won the Big West regular-season title and played in the NIT. He also handled recruiting coordinator duties in Santa Barbara.
Amaral's head coaching experience consists of three successful seasons at Peninsula College, a junior college located in Port Angeles, Wash. The program had been dormant for 17 years before Amaral resurrected the team in 1997-98. The team posted a winning record in just his second year and then in his third and final season, the Pirates recorded a program-record 28 wins and won the 2000 NWAACC Northern Division title.
Amaral was named the 2000 NWAACC Northern Division Coach of the Year and posted a three-year record of 58-31 (.652) at Peninsula.
In addition to his coaching duties at Peninsula, he also served as a physical education instructor and a community and high school relations coordinator.
Amaral got his start in coaching at the NAIA level in the early to mid-`90s, working as an assistant at Carroll College for two seasons, Lewis-Clark State for one and Montana Tech for three.
A native of Santa Clara, Calif., Amaral spent two seasons at West Valley College in Saratoga, Calif., where he played two years of basketball under future Cal State Fullerton head coach Bob Burton. Amaral then went on to play at the College of Idaho, where he helped the Coyotes make the quarterfinals of the NAIA Championships both seasons.
Amaral received his bachelor's degree in business and marketing from the College of Idaho in 1990, and completed a master's degree in physical education from Idaho State in 1994.
He and his wife, Chris, have two sons, Tanner and Landon.
