Sacramento State coach David Patrick takes job at LSU. Who will take over for the Hornets?

David Patrick has resigned as Sacramento State’s men’s basketball coach to assume the associate head coaching job at LSU, he confirmed Wednesday morning in a phone interview with The Sacramento Bee.

Patrick is returning to a state where he was a star high school player, expressing a desire to come full circle with his “dream job” and to be closer to family.

Later on Wednesday, the Hornets announced that the school’s associate head coach, Michael Czepil, will serve as interim coach for the 2024-25 season. Czepil spent two seasons as a right-hand man of sorts for Patrick, including recruiting, scouting and player development.

Czepil takes over a program that surged late last season to reach the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament with a lineup of youngsters. Sacramento State will return 10 lettermen and 11 players total, making the Hornets a likely contender to compete for the program’s first Big Sky Conference title.

Patrick, a good friend of Kings coach Mike Brown, is popular on campus and in the community as an engaging, friendly sort. He took over the Hornets before the 2022-23 season and led them to 14 victories, the most for a first-year Sacramento Stat coach in the Division I era, starting in 1991, and the third-best total since the program started in 1948.

Patrick met with his team and staff Wednesday morning in the locker room of the Nest, the school’s cozy gym. The Hornets shared moments of reflection, cheers and tears with their outgoing coach.

“It’s hard for them and it’s hard on me, too, and I hope they all understand and the people here understand,” Patrick said. “When I moved to America (after growing up in Australia), I went to a high school in Baton Rouge, and my dream was to always coach at LSU. I had that opportunity as an assistant in 2012-16, and for that door to open again, and to be near family, it’s wonderful.”

Patrick said he enjoyed his time with the Hornets, proud of what the program did. The coach said he especially appreciated the relationships with players. Patrick was known to coach his players hard, demanding effort, and then he would love up his players during and after games just the same with encouragement.

“I tried to make the relationships with the players genuine, because when you’re recruiting a student-athlete, it’s not just the kids, you get close to the parents,” Patrick said. “Today, I had to say goodbye to 14 players, and then it’ll be all of their parents, too.”

Sacramento State earned a first-round bye at the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the first time since joining the league in 1996 after coming together nicely as a team down the stretch of the season. The Hornets were one of just four D-I programs in the country to play freshmen more than 40% of the team’s total minutes.

“Sacramento State is extremely thankful to Coach Patrick for his service and leadership, and he has built a foundation that is set up for future success in achieving our goal to compete for conference championships,” Hornets athletic director Mark Orr said in a statement. “While it is difficult to see him leave, we wish him and his wonderful family the very best in their future endeavors.

“Coach Czepil is an outstanding coach, and I look forward to him embracing the opportunity to serve as our interim head coach. I have full confidence that he is the right person to lead our student-athletes through the 2024-25 season.”

Czepil (pronounced Zeh-pull) has 14 years of collegiate, international and professional coaching experience. He was at UC Riverside for two seasons as the program’s associate head coach before Patrick brought him to Sacramento State in June of 2022.

Czepil coached the U18 Australian National Team in 2018. He was head coach for the Werribee Basketball Association senior men’s program in the Big V, Australia’s third-tier professional league.

Czepil played four seasons at Nichols State in Louisiana from 2005-09, becoming a two-time team captain. He served as the team’s assistant coach from 2010-13.

Patrick gave a ringing endorsement to Czepil, the first player he recruited when he was an assistant coach at Nicholls State.

“Mike had a competitive, educated spirit, was a leader, a captain for us as a freshman,” Patrick said. “I could see then that he’d be a coach — and a good coach. He’s a really good coach. We were able to retain 11 players from last season, which is not normal in college basketball today, and Mike was key to getting those guys. He’s going to do a great job here.”