Longtime NBA advance scout Pat Zipfel will be an assistant and the associate head coach for Weber State men’s basketball. Zipfel has been an advance scout for the Philadelphia 76ers for the past three seasons and has been in coaching since 1989, with 24 years in the NBA.

“Zip is one of the best basketball minds I’ve ever been around, and I’ve known that since my very first day in the NBA,” Canales said in a news release. “Anyone who has had the chance to work with him would agree: he will outwork everyone in the building, and I know our players and staff are going to benefit from every ounce of his knowledge and experience.”

While scout evaluators help NBA teams make personnel decisions and report to a general manager, advance scouts work in-season as game planners and report to the head coach. Advance scouts watch film and travel ahead of the team to analyze an NBA team’s upcoming opponents, assisting head coaches as they plan schemes and identify opponent tendencies.

Zipfel told the Standard-Examiner he was excited to work with Canales again after the pair first met in Portland about 20 years ago.

BRETT HEIN, Standard-Examiner

“He’s an unbelievable leader, he’s an unbelievable man,” Zipfel said. “I’m not an authority on Weber State but I can say I’m an authority on him as a person. He’s a fantastic dad. And he has a bright future, and I just felt it was the right time for me to share that experience with him and help him in any way that I could.

“He’s the only guy in the whole world that I would leave the NBA for,” he continued. “I hope the people of Ogden and Weber State get an idea because he’s just a great, great guy.”

Before Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania native Zipfel was an NBA scout for Phoenix (2019-23), Minnesota (2009-13, 2018-19), Chicago (2013-15), Houston (2005-09), Portland (2003-05) and the Los Angeles Clippers (2000-03). He was also an assistant coach for one season each in Minnesota and Houston.

“Zip was a big part of my growth in Minnesota,” said Utah Jazz forward Kevin Love, who played for the Timberwolves during Zipfel’s tenure, in a news release. “The preparation he put in front of us night after night was as good as anything I’ve seen in this league. Those Weber State players are lucky to have him.”

Considered one of the best advance scouts in the NBA, Zipfel, 58, also has coaching experience with The Citadel (assistant coach 1989-92), Bucks County Community College (head coach 1992-93), Centenary College (head coach and athletic director 1996-99), the ABA’s New Jersey Squires (2003-04), and Mansfield University (head coach 2015-18).

But it’s been eight years since he’s coached on the court.

“Being on the court every day and teaching, it’s awesome,” he said. “I’m enjoying it. I’ve been working out with (the players), doing individual workouts. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them in that light … It’s been great to be around the youth of them and get to know them.”

Zipfel’s addition rounds out the core bench staff for Canales in his first year.

Zipfel, the associate head coach, joins Dondrale Campbell, who comes to Weber State after three years as an assistant coach at Northern Colorado, and Bobby Jones Jr., WSU’s video coordinator last year now promoted to assistant coach. Luke Spring returns for his second season as director of operations and assistant coach after one season as video coordinator.