Rob Benchley, Athletic Director
I’m pretty happy with how this year’s team did. I have to admit that there was a time during the season when I was pretty sure there was no way we’d get to the NCAA Tournament. So their doing that was exciting and fulfilling.
Coach Aura got entreaties from a number of very good programs to take on their head coaching jobs, but opted to stay here…for which I’m very pleased.
He made a couple changes with his assistants. While not firing 2nd Assistant Justin Traore, I think Fred sort of ushered him out of the door. He gave him a good recommendation, though. So Justin got picked up as the 1st Assistant at James Madison. So that was a good move for Justin. After that, Fred promoted Jody Hedde from 3rd Assistant to 2nd Assistant giving him a bit more of a salary increase than I liked. And after he and I discussed things, he hired his son Omari Aura as his 3rd Assistant in charge of Player Development and Practice. Omari was injured during this last season while he was playing for the Indiana Pacers and decided to call the pro game quits. He brings some good offensive and defensive skills to this job and should be good at developing our players.
Coach Aura made a convincing argument to the university’s board of directors for a budget increase based on the team’s success the past few years, increased salaries for assistant coaches, and the fact that 6 players will be graduating next year so we’ll need to do extensive recruiting this coming year. Somewhat to my surprise the usually stingy board actually approved a $7,650 increase!
WIth Coach Aura remaining here at Cal Poly, here’s Coach Frederick Aura’s Division 1 Coaching Summary:
2019-20: Towson, 18-15, .545, unranked, 6th (tie) in CAA, No post-season tourney
2020-21: Towson, 13-17, .433, unranked, 5th in CAA, No post-season tourney
2021-22: Towson, 24-9, .727, unranked, 2nd in CAA, NCAA (Round 1)
2022-23: Towson, 27-7, .794, ranked 24th, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Round 2)
2023-24: Towson, 30-4, .882, ranked 15th, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Sweet 16)
2024-25: Towson, 25-8, .758, unranked, 1st in CAA, NCAA (Round 1)
2025-26: Boston College, 21-17, .553, unranked, 10th in ACC, CIT (Finals)
2026-27: Boston College, 25-10, .714, ranked 25th, 3rd in ACC, NCAA (Sweet 16)
2027-28: Boston College, 34-5, .872, ranked 2nd, 1st in ACC, NCAA (Final 4)
2028-29: Boston College, 30-6, .833, ranked 2nd, 1st in ACC, NCAA (Round 2)
2029-30: Boston College, 26-9, .743, ranked 8th, 2nd in ACC, NCAA (Round 2)
2030-31: Boston College, 30-8, .789, ranked 8th, 1st in ACC, NCAA (Champions)
2031-32: Cal Poly, 15-15, .500, unranked, 2nd (tie) in Big West, No post-season tourney
2032-33: Cal Poly, 16-15, .516, unranked, 4th (tie) in Big West, No post-season tourney
2033-34: Cal Poly, 26-8, .765, unranked, 2nd in Big West, NCAA (Round 2)
2034-35: Cal Poly, 21-12, .636, unranked, 1st in Big West, NIT (Round 1)
2035-36: Cal Poly, 25-10, .714, unranked, 4th in Big West, NCAA (Round 1)
CAREER RECORD: 406-175, .699