Coach James Giacomazzi's Las Positas College basketball program thrives annually, currently 18-0 thus far in the 2024-25 season, and being successful on the court feeds his inner competitive fire, those of his assistant coaches and also his student-athletes. What's intriguing is that the multiple reasons for the hoops prosperity in Livermore extends far beyond teaching mere basketball concepts. Relationships are the most critical component as Giacomazzi and his coaching staff focus time and energy into developing mutual respect and understanding, establishing connectivity between each coach and each player, plus between player and player.
In his tenth season at LPC (currently 181-73, 71.2% winning percentage) and having made post-season play every year since he arrived, Giacomazzi's teams are known earning post-season eligibility and advancing deep into the playoffs, including in 2021-22 where his team went to the Elite 8 and finished 27-4. With a previous prosperous stint heading the men's basketball program at Cosumnes River College (Sacramento) for 11 seasons, Giacomazzi departed college and entered the coaching profession by assisting Percy Carr at San Jose City College for six seasons.
At age 17, Giacomazzi began playing for Carr at San Jose City College and contributed to the Jaguars winning two conference championships before transferring to, playing at, and graduating from UC Riverside. He also eventually earned a master’s degree from San Jose State University in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Human Performance and Sport Management. His hoops journey began at Washington High in Fremont with Coach Guin Boggs, on a team that won the Nor Cal championship in 1991 and became the state championship game runnerup, both in Giacomazzi'ssophomore season. He was a two-time all-league player while at Washington High, also earning 3rd team Greater East Bay and MVP of the conference his senior year.
Of Boggs, Giacomazzi vividly described him as "smart, a great motivator and a tenacious coach who instilled passion." He called Boggs "a culture coach long before that description became a buzzword." In a 2022 article, he said of Boggs: "He taught me the principles of the game...and strategy.” In his various tenures throughout the Bay Area and Northern California, Boggs coached in the high school ranks, at the junior college level and with four-year programs, tutoring young men and women.
So why the turn to hoops? "I enjoy the competitive nature of the game of basketball, Giocomazzi offered. "Even when I was in middle school playing at a park against high school players. I was 13, they were 18 and I learned by failure."
After college, Giacomazzi's entrance into coaching wasn't a surprise since "my Dad was a (basketball) coach at San Carlos High." But possibly of even greater importance to that career entrance was "my relationship with my JC Coach Percy Carr. I began coaching with him in 1998." Their connection is so tight that Carr was a groomsman at Giacomazzi's wedding.
Feeding off "kids graduating and getting scholarships," Giacomazzi noted "mentoring has taken a hit. When I was coming up, I started out playing just a little and that was okay with me because I had to earn my playing time. Nowadays, I’d be curious to ask a player if they want to be part of a championship team and play a little or be part of a team that may not win much but play a lot, I wonder which they would choose." Which is fascinating because think about what will be cherished by any individual 30-40 years from now.
Asked to name personal attributes he deems critical to being successful as a coach, Giacomazzi offered, "vulnerability, honesty, forthrightness and loving your players. They see how you conduct yourself around your wife and kids and that needs to conform with how you interact with them. We don't have all the answers but we just try and do things the right way. As Purdue Coach Matt Painter recently said, 'we don't conform our core beliefs to players. the players conform to what we value.' It's about who you are as a person. Are you a straight shooter who demonstrates what you say? Character matters so care for them genuinely. Value their voices by asking for their input. Be patient." If this sounds like similar advice to that of Dr. Benjamin Spock about child-rearing way back when, it is.
To a query about how he stays fresh since he's been operating a sports business for 20+ years, Giacomazzi responded quickly and succinctly: "My family and my assistant coaches. My wife and daughters have been a part of all that I have done in coaching. Also, I currently have and have had great assistants and I really value them. (Associate Head Coach) Anthony Haskett owns a Master's degree and is young, intelligent and passionate." That degree is in Exercise Science & Health Promotion with an emphasis in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention.
"(Assistant Coach) Ravi Bhambhra has three years experience running his own program at College of Alameda. Both are highly invested and that makes my job a lot easier." Bhambhra owns an M.A in Kinesiology, with emphasis on Sports Psychology, from San José State University and previously assisted at Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa, City College San Francisco and Cañada College (Redwood City).
Whether it be Devin Aye (San Jose City College head coach), Jonathan James (Cosumnes River College head coach), Nicholas Podesta (Clovis West High head coach), Fred Wilson (Inderkum High head coach), Michael Lorente (Destiny Christian head coach) and multiple others, "they've all made me look smarter."
So are there any future Coach Giacomazzi's in the pipeline? "My kids are highly ranked acrobatic gymnasts who are soon to be trying out to be a part of the US National Team. They've traveled all over the nation and internationally for meets." So, there very well may be a future Coach Giacomazzi or two but it will involve Balance, Dynamic, and Combined routines rather than flare screens, backdoor cuts and the like.
What very few know about Giacomazzi is his choice of work if he wasn't coaching and simultaneously carrying out duties as LPC's athletic director. "I do have a Master in Sports Management so I like working to expand sports offerings which we are looking at doing at Las Positas College, but outside of coaching or being an AD, I’d love being a stay-at-home Dad and watch my girls do their thing." That's a critical if forever under-appreciated role and certainly involves multiple skills applied in juggling the requirements of keeping a household operating smoothly.
Maybe the phrase 'growth generator' is appropriate here. Young men, coming from high school, enter the jarringly different existence of community college basketball and classes. Giacomazzi's is a program where maturation and improvement both on the court and off as well as in the classroom is expected. How does he know he is performing his role well? Because former players call, text and return to Las Positas and visit whether it be during breaks from their four-year schools, playing professionally overseas (now has had 22 players play professionally) or after graduating. Countless of his hoops acolytes remain in touch to this day. It takes a certain degree of growth on Giacomazzi's part since determining how to connect with each player's psyche and mindset is a must towards establishing that desired sense of mutual caring.
Yes, Coach Caring would be an apt nickname for him. It's not ferocious, combative or headline grabbing—it's him, and his family, his assistants and a long list of his players are thankful.