University of Idaho Men's Basketball Head Coach Alex Pribble officially announced the addition of Brandon Laird, David Dunham and Matt Jones to the Vandal coaching staff. Laird will serve as the associate head coach while Dunham and Jones will handle assistant coach duties under Pribble.
Brandon Laird – Associate Head Coach
Laird joins the Vandal men's basketball staff with over 20 years of coaching experience with stops at Sacramento State, UC Davis and Menlo College.
Most recently, Laird was a program analyst for a UC Davis team that won 18 games in 2022-23 and produced a First Team All-Big West guard in Elijah Pepper.
In a COVID shortened 2021-22 season as interim head coach at Sacramento State, Laird led the Hornets to 11 wins, which is the most overall wins and most Big Sky Conference wins by a first-year head coach in the program's Division I era. Laird's Hornets surged late in the year, winning five of six, including a first-round win in the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
In the nine years prior, as associate head coach for the Hornets, Laird handled player administration, on-floor coaching, scouting, academics, compliance, player development and recruiting. Sacramento State won at least 13 games in seven of the nine years while Laird was with the program, a feat that hadn't been reached for the Hornets since their run from 1966-1973.
As the recruiting coordinator and associate head coach, Laird played an instrumental role in the recruitment and development of over 20 players who continued their careers in the professional ranks after playing in the Big Sky. This list includes Eric Stuteville, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2017 G-League draft, Cody Demps who was signed to the Sacramento Kings roster in 2019, and Marcus Graves who just completed his 5th season in the NBA's G-League. Additionally, Laird recruited and coached seven of the top 10 All-Time scorers in Sacramento State history, eight All-Big Sky performers and the 2015 Big Sky MVP, Mikh McKinney, during his 11-year stint in Sacramento.
Laird helped the Hornets to a 16-14 overall record in 2019-20. Sacramento State won its first-round matchup over Weber State in the Big Sky Tournament before the tournament was ultimately canceled due to COVID-19. The Hornets' 16 wins were the second most in the program's Division I history. Defensively, Sacramento State ranked fifth in the nation and first in the Big Sky only allowing 59.7 points per game.
Sacramento State completed the 2014-15 season with a 21-12 record, marking it first time the Hornets finished above the .500 mark in the program's Division I era. The 21 wins were tied for the second-most in program history. The Hornets appeared in the CIT Tournament after reaching the semifinals in the 2015 Big Sky Tournament. Sacramento State earned a 73-66 win at Portland in the first round of the CIT Tournament, collecting the program's first postseason win in 53 years.
The 2015 CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll ranked the Hornets as high as No. 14. Sacramento State had previously never been ranked and finished one game back from first place in the Big Sky standings.
From 2009-11, Laird was an assistant coach at UC Davis working with the guards and assisting with on-floor coaching, scouting and recruiting.
Before UC Davis, Laird served as head coach at Menlo College from 2006-09. In 2008, he led the program to 18 wins, the most for the Oaks since 1990. They also tied a program record with a nine-game win streak. Menlo won the Cal-Pac Conference Tournament and advanced to the NAIA national tournament for just the third time in program history. The Oaks finished the season with a No. 29 national ranking.
Laird also spent three years as an assistant coach at Menlo from 2003-06.
His first collegiate coaching experience began at UC Davis serving on the staff for the 2002-03 season. Laird also coached as an assistant at his high school alma mater, El Camino in 2001-02.
A UC Davis graduate, Laird played four seasons (1997-01) with the Aggies men's basketball team playing in 85 games. He helped the program to a 31-2 record and a Division II national title in 1997-98. Laird received the Captain's Award in 2000-01 which was voted on by his teammates.
Laird earned a degree in managerial economics from UC Davis in 2001 and obtained his master's degree in 2005 from the United States Sports Academy. Laird and his wife Sarah have one son, Nixon.
David Dunham - Assistant Coach
Dunham will serve as an assistant coach on the Idaho men's basketball coaching staff after spending the past seven seasons as the head assistant coach at Western Washington University.
With 17 seasons of collegiate coaching experience, Dunham has been a part of 16 winning seasons, four conference championships and two NCAA appearances. He was instrumental in developing 20 players who have gone on to play in the professional ranks and has also been selected by Silver Waves Media as one of the 50 most impactful D2 Assistants in America.
It didn't take long for Dunham to make an immediate impact at WWU, as he helped lead the team to a 25-6 overall mark, a GNAC regular season and tournament title, and clinch a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Division ll Championships in his first season (2016-17). He sustained that success by guiding the Vikings to its second GNAC tournament title in four seasons and notched a No. 2 seed in the Dll Championships in 2019-20.
Dunham helped develop six Vikings who went on to receive professional contacts following the 2017-18 season at WWU.
Prior to his time at WWU, Dunham was the head coach for three seasons at Whatcom Community College from 2013-16. He led the Orcas to a pair of playoff appearances, a runner-up finish in the NWAC championship game, a 48-37 overall mark and an NWAC North Region Coach of the Year honor.
Before taking over as head coach at Whatcom, Dunham served as the top assistant for 10 seasons, including an associate head coach role from 2011-13. He helped lead the Orcas to a North Region record 10 consecutive postseason appearances during his tenure as an assistant.
Dunham graduated with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology at Lewis-Clark State College in 1994 and earned his master's degree in Sports Administration at Southeastern Oklahoma State in 2022.
Before his coaching tenure, Dunham was a standout collegiate player at Golden West Junior College for two seasons, where he earned first-team Orange Coast League recognition in his sophomore season. He went on to play one more season at LCSC (1993-94).
A Pasadena, Calif. native, Dunham, graduated from Pasadena High School in 1989. He and his wife, Meghan (Valenti) have three children – son Stefon and daughters Hayden, and Quinn.
Matt Jones – Assistant Coach
Jones comes to Moscow following five seasons at Seattle University working with the Redhawks men's basketball program.
Jones served as a graduate assistant for two seasons from 2018-2020 before being elevated to director of operations in November 2020.
During his tenure as the director of operations at Seattle U, Jones was involved in many aspects of the program. He oversaw the team's travel, day-to-day schedule, and overall team budget while managing the support staff and assisting with academics. Jones also played a large role in the scouting of opponents, video and film breakdowns, and assisting with game plans and practice plans. Additionally, he worked closely with the assistant coaches in the recruiting process.
Prior to Seattle U, Jones attended Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas where he was a four-year member of the Tigers' men's basketball team. Jones served as a co-captain of the squad and was part of the Trinity Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
On his way to earning three All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Third Team honors, Jones set the school single-season and all-time records for assists. He also finished third all-time in steals. Additionally, he made the NABC Honors Court in 2016-17.
Jones graduated with a bachelor's degree in Finance from Trinity University in 2018. He then went on to earn his master's degree in Sports Business Leadership at Seattle U in June of 2020.
