Joel Sobotka was hired as an assistant coach in April of 2006 and returned to the city of Portland after a three-year stint at Cal State Northridge. Sobotka, who has four years of experience as an NCAA Division I head coach, is the lead assistant for the Pilots.
Sobotka was the head coach at Portland State University for four years (1998-02) prior to his position at Northridge. Hired by the Vikings at the age of 28, Sobotka was the youngest head coach at the NCAA Division I level at the time. He posted a 53-59 overall record and led the Vikings to the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament in 1998. Sobotka served as an assistant coach at PSU under Ritchie McKay from 1996-98, when the Vikings reinstated hoops after a 15-year layoff.
At Cal State Northridge, Sobotka helped guide the Matadors to the Big West Conference Tournament finals in 2003-04 and the conference tournament semifinals in 2004-05 with an 18-13 overall record.
Between his years at PSU and Cal State Northridge, Sobotka spent four months as an assistant general manager with the Harlem Globetrotters. He served as a graduate assistant at Arizona State during the 1995-96 season. A 1993 graduate of ASU, Sobotka began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Eastern Oregon (1993-95).
A member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches since 1994, Sobotka served as a Division I congressman from 1999-02. He completed the NABC Professional Development Series at the 2005 Final Four and is also a member of the Oregon Coaches Association.
Sobotka was on the board of directors and a founding member of the Amyotophic Lateral Sclerosis Association, Oregon-Southwest Washington Chapter and is still involved with the chapter and the ALS Association. He also volunteered as the camp director for the Chris Dudley Basketball Camp for Kids with Diabetes from 1998-00.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden selected Sobotka to participate in the Backboards and Blackboards program, which educates Oregon children on academic and basketball goals and opportunities.
From 1999 until 2002, Sobotka was featured on 1080 The Fan in Portland as an NBA and college basketball radio analyst.
Sobotka has one older brother and has two nieces (Hanne and Annika) and two nephews (Max and Jack).
PERSONAL
Birth Date
August 20, 1970
Birth Place
Scottsdale, Ariz.
High School
Horizon (Scottsdale, Ariz.)
College
B.S. Management, Arizona State ’93