Garcia named men's basketball coach at Chatham

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(Information contributed by the Chatham sports information office)

PITTSBURGH (pacathletics.org) – Chatham University welcomes Andrew Garcia, who has been named the school’s first men's basketball coach. The Cougars will take the court for the first time in the winter of 2015.

Garcia spent three years on Carnegie Mellon University's men's basketball staff after being named full-time assistant coach in 2011. Garcia also served as the program's recruiting coordinator. During his three years of work at CMU, Garcia successfully brought in top academic players on a national level from Western Pennsylvania (3), Ohio (3) Washington, D.C. (2), California (2), North Carolina (1), New Jersey (1), and Maryland (1). In addition, Garcia oversaw opponent scouting for the majority of regular-season games and organized all aspects of team video instruction. Garcia also orchestrated the team's defensive scheme and philosophy for the 2012-13 season.

Garcia came to CMU from Division II Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla. where he served as the men's assistant coach from 2010 to 2011. His duties included all pre-season, post-season, and individual workouts with the team. He was also in charge of implementing a recruiting plan for high school and junior college players in the state of Florida. Prior to his stint at Flagler, Garcia spent two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Division I Marshall University. During his time at Marshall, Garcia had the opportunity to work with 10 players that continued their career in the professional ranks.

As a student-athlete Garcia played three seasons of basketball at Tulane University, where he led the Green Wave in assists for two years. As a senior, Garcia was the team's captain and a member of the Conference USA All-Academic Team. He scored a career-high 23 points in a pivotal Conference USA game against the University of Southern Mississippi. Before attending Tulane, Garcia was a walk-on for the University of Pittsburgh's football team in 2003.

The Pittsburgh native and a 2002 graduate of Central Catholic High School earned a bachelor's degree in history from Tulane in 2006 and completed his master's degree in adult and technical education at Marshall in 2009.

Garcia will also serve as the assistant sports information director.