PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Pilots men's basketball head coach Shantay Legans has announced Aleks Abrams as the new director of basketball operations for the program.
"I am super excited to be a part of the Portland Pilot family," Abrams said. "I am grateful for the opportunity to join Coach Legans and his staff as we work to bring a winning tradition to The Bluff."
"Aleks is a great addition to our staff," Legans said. "He knows what it takes to be a successful Division I basketball player, has seen how different programs are run and is passionate about the game. Aleks is organized and will bring even more ambitious young energy to our office. He will make our program better."
Abrams most recently worked as a graduate assistant with the men's basketball program at Santa Clara University. Abrams assisted with various tasks – such as evaluating recruits, creating workouts and development plans and assisting with scouting reports – while earning a master's degree in Psychology with a concentration on educational leadership.
Before his time at Santa Clara, Abrams was an accomplished member of the Cal Poly men's basketball team. During his time with the Mustangs, Abrams was named to the Big West All-Academic Team twice, first earning the honor after in the 2016-17 season and doing so again after the 2017-18 season. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in recreation, parks and tourism administration with a concentration in sport management in 2018. After playing at Cal Poly, Abrams spent one more year playing with Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, earning a master's degree in kinesiology in the process.
Abrams joins a talented first-year coaching staff on The Bluff. Legans joins the Pilots after recently leading Eastern Washington to an NCAA Tournament appearance, having previously won multiple Big Sky championships and the 2019-20 Big Sky Coach of the Year award. Legans brought two assistants with him from Cheney, Wash. – T.J. Lipold and Bobby Suarez – and added Jeremy Pope to the coaching staff. Pope was also recently named the head coach of Boeheim's Army for The Basketball Tournament 21.
