Brian Rosario heads into his fourth season as a Pepperdine women's basketball assistant coach in 2022-23.
Rosario joined the staff ahead of the 2019-20 season when Kristen Dowling came aboard as head coach.
During the summer of 2022, Rosario served as head coach of the Philippines U16 National Team as it competed at the Asia Cup Championship.
During the summer of 2020, Rosario was named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association’s Social Justice Task Force. The Task Force functions under the auspices of the association's Diversity & Inclusion Committee and is focused on promoting racial equality in three areas: hiring practices, training and education, and advocacy and awareness.
"I am ecstatic for our program and for Brian to join our Pepperdine family," said Dowling at the time of Rosario’s hiring in August 2019. "Brian is a high-character coach and a proven recruiter with many years of college coaching experience. He is very familiar with Pepperdine and the WCC. I am thrilled to welcome Brian, Michelle and Luciano to Malibu."
"I am extremely excited for the opportunity to work at a place that has always been so close to the heart," said Rosario. "Having grown up in Oxnard, Pepperdine felt like the hometown team. I was so happy for Kristen when Dr. Steve Potts and Karina (Herold) entrusted the program to her and named her head coach. She is a proven winner and understands what it takes to win in the WCC. I am humbled to be able to work alongside her, Anthony, Grace, and Skye, and to be part of such a rich program and outstanding athletic department."
Rosario came to Pepperdine with more than 15 years of collegiate basketball coaching experience, including three years (2016-19) as the head coach of Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Ariz. Rosario took a zero-win team in 2017 and ended 2019 with 16 total wins, earning the school's first playoff berth in five years and first national ranking in nine years.
Prior to Chandler-Gilbert, Rosario coached at the club and high school level in Indiana from 2014-16.
He spent five years (2007-12) at Loyola Marymount as an assistant coach. While at LMU, he was in charge of post player development, scheduling, game and practice planning and all aspects of recruiting. During his time, he developed and mentored All-WCC players Alex Cowling, Renahy Young, Candice Nichols and Hazel Ramirez. Under his tutelage, Cowling left the school as the all-time leading scorer in LMU history.
Prior to coaching at LMU, Rosario was an assistant coach at Cornell University from 2005-07. At Cornell, he was the position coach of Jeomi Maduka, who was named Cornell's second-ever Ivy League Rookie of the Year, and to the All-Ivy Rookie Team during the 2005-06 season.
Rosario got his master's degree in special education in 2005 from the University of the Cumberlands, where he served as a graduate assistant from 2001-03. He was promoted to full-time assistant coach from 2003-05.
Rosario graduated from the University of San Diego -- where he was a male practice player for the women's basketball team -- in 1999 with a degree in business administration.
He and his wife Michelle have two children, Luciano and Florencio.
