Coach Sam Ballard has an extensive background in playing and coaching basketball at the high school, college, and professional levels. He has been involved in the game for over 40 years. A native of Phoenix, Ballard played interscholastically for legendary coach Royce Youree at East Phoenix High School.
From East, Coach Ballard went to Lee Junior College in Baytown, Texas, where he achieved All-TJCAA honors and then on to the University of Wyoming in the Western Athletic Conference. After trying out with the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA, he played professionally in France for five and a half years.
Coach Ballard began his coaching career at the Judson School, where in 1980, his team was Arizona Independent Athletic Association state champions and he was named AIAA Coach of the Year. He returned to East High in 1981-82 to assist his mentor, Coach Youree. That team went 23-3 and made it to the state quarterfinals. The next year, Coach Ballard went to Yavapai College to assist Dave Brown with men’s and women’s basketball, which had a combined record of 41-13. The women were NJCAA Region 1 champions and led the nation in team defense. He then took the job as head women’s coach at Yavapai from 1983 to 1985 and had a record of 42-15. The Lady Roughriders finished in the top 5 nationally in team defense both years and were Region 1 runners-up in 1984.
In 1985, Coach Ballard went back to coaching men as an assistant to another legendary Arizona coach, Bill Farrell at Paradise Valley High School. The 1986 PV team finished 20-6, won the Central Region and advanced to the state semi-finals. In 1987, he worked as an assistant coach at Phoenix College with Rob Babcock, who is currently the Assistant General Manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. In 1989, Coach Ballard returned to high school coaching as an assistant to his mentor, Royce Youree at Camelback High School. In 1990, he took over as head coach of the Spartans and in 7 years compiled a 107-69 record. In 1995, he was named Metro Coach of the Year. In 1997, Coach Ballard took the head coaching position at Mountain Pointe High School where in 10 years he had a 171-90 record. He was Arizona Republic and East Valley Tribune Coach of the Year in 1998, and Central Region Coach of the Year in 1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005. In 2006, he was named Arizona Coach of the Year by Arizonavarsity.com, on the Rivals network. In 2008, he was an assistant at Grand Canyon University before accepting the Mesa position in April of that year.
Coach Ballard has been married for 33 years to his wife, Brigitte, who he met in France. She has taught French at Camelback High School since 1992. They have three children: Jordan, who played basketball for Coach Ballard at Mountain Pointe, Morgan who recently graduated from the University of Arizona, and Derrick who is currently attending Camelback High and plays basketball. Coach Ballard has a Bachelor’s Degree from Linfield College in Oregon and a Master’s Degree from Arizona State University.
Assistant Coach Lane Waddell
Lane Waddell is entering his fifteenth year of coaching with Coach Ballard.
Coach Waddell spent nine years with Coach Ballard at Mountain Pointe High
School where he was the junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant.
Waddell played high school basketball at Wayzata (Minn.) Senior High. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science and recently completed his Masters from Northern ArizonaUniversity in education.
Coach Waddell currently teaches social studies at Mountain Pointe High School.
Coach Waddell is married to Gremlyn, and has three children Clare,Cameron and Caroline.
Assistant Coach Mike Grothaus
Mike Grothaus comes to MCC from Grand Canyon University where he was an assistant coach. Mike played for the Lopes for three years. Before playing at Grand Canyon, Mike played one season at Jamestown College in Jamestown, North Dakota. Mike played his high school basketball locally at Gilbert HS where he played for MCC legendary coach Tom Bennett. Mike was a member of the 2003 5A state championship team.
Mike Graduated from Grand Canyon University in 2007 with a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and a minor in Business Marketing. He is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Secondary Education.
Mike was born in 1984 to his parents Jim and Barb Grothaus whom currently reside in Gilbert, AZ. He has a younger sister who just graduated from Arizona State and is currently a 5th grade teacher.
Mike aspires to be head college coach one day. His fondest basketball memory aside from winning the state championship in high school was competing against Coach Ballard’s Mt. Pointe teams while at Gilbert.
Favorite quote: “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
Assistant Coach Joshua Kutchinski
Coach Kutchinski is in his 11th year of coaching basketball. In 1997, he took an assistant job at his Alma Mater Baldwin High School. His hometown of Baldwin, Michigan is rich in basketball history as teams have won 24 district championships since 1952.
As a player, Kutchinski won thre district championships (1993-1995) and as a coach he won two (2000-2002, 2007).
In 2002, Coach Kutchinski coached at Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan.
In 2004, Kutchinski returned to college to obtain his degree at Baker College in Muskegon, Michigan. It was at Baker where he received a junior varsity head coaching job. Additionally, Kutchinski coached at Muskegon Orchard View as an assistant at the varsity level.
In 2005, Kutchinski took over at Holton High School and was 45-21 over a three-year span. At Holton, Coach Kutchinksi won the school's first district title in 46 years and obtained their best record since 1941 at 17-7 in 2007.
Each summer, Coach Kutchinski is involved in numerous summer camps at University of Detroit Mercy, Central Michigan, Michigan State University.
Coach Kutchinski is currently working towards his Masters in Educational Leadership.
Coach Kutchinski is the son of Jim and Brenda and the brother of Cassie.
Assistant Coach Rex Morrison
A born and raised cactus-fed Phoenician, Coach Morrison has been playing or coaching sports since birth.
Morrison's coaching career started the day after his playing career ended. Athletically, coach is a mix of point guard, shortstop, and offensive lineman.
Philosophically, Morrison is a Socratic Parrot-Head.
Coaching, a John Calipari, Mike Ditka, and Sam Ballard hybrid.
A deep love of athletic competition and what it adds to our livesis paramount in his life.COach Morrison first met Sam Ballard when playing college baseball for Yavapai C.C. in 1983. Coach Ballard has been Morrison's coaching mentor and close personal friend since 1991.
Contact Jeff Fore at 480.461.7627 or jeff.fore@mcmail.maricopa.edu for more information on the basketball program.
Please contact The Basketball Department for comments
or corrections phone:
480-461-7540
