 
One of the most respected high school coaches in Southern California, Rod Palmer brings his Southern California prep expertise to Long Beach State. Palmer, in his second year as an assistant coach with the 49ers, comes to LBSU from Centennial High School in Compton where he was the Head Varsity Basketball Coach for the past nine years (1998-07). Palmer led Centennial to the 2004 California Division III State Championship and his 2002 squad was a State Finalist, falling to San Francisco Riordan. Both the 2002 and 2004 squads were Division III Southern Regional Champions and in 2006 Centennial was the CIF Division IIIA champs. Prior to coaching at Centennial, Palmer was the Head Varsity Coach at Compton High School for four years (1993-97). In the recent 2007 NBA Draft, Palmer saw two of his former players take the first step of realizing their NBA dreams. UCLA's Arron Afflalo was drafted in the first round by the Detroit Pistons and USC's Gabe Pruitt as drafted in the second round by the Boston Celtics. Over 13 years as a high school coach, Palmer has guided his teams to eight CIF Sectional title games (six consecutive), three Southern Regional Championship game, two Southern Regional Championships, two State Final games and one Division III State Championship. He has also sent over 25 players to NCAA Division I schools on basketball scholarships. The 2004 state championship squad was led by Afflalo. The Apaches went 32-3 that year and defeated Oakland Bishop O'Dowd 60-36 in the title game in Sacramento. This past year the Apaches were 19-5 and won the Pioneer League title with a perfect 10-0 record, but lost in the first round of the CIF IAA playoffs to Jordan in overtime. Palmer earned his Bachelor's degree from UC Irvine in 1990 in psychology and received a teaching credential-secondary in social science in 2004 from Cal State Dominguez Hills. Palmer prepped at Dominguez High School and was a two-time All-CIF guard and earned a scholarship to UCLA where he played from 1985-87. He then transferred to UC Irvine for his final two seasons. Palmer and his wife, Sherell, have three children. Daughters, Erin (16) and Shevae (8) and a newborn son, Joshua, who was born August 24, 2007. |
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