Matt Lottich - Men's Basketball Coach - Grand Canyon University Athletics

Matt Lottich

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Years at GCU:
1st season
Email:
matthew.lottich@gcu.edu
Alma Mater:
Stanford (2004)

Road to GCU
YEAR	SCHOOL	POSITION
2000-04	Stanford	Student-Athlete
2004-12	International Pro Basketball	Athlete
2013-16	Valparaiso	Asst. Coach
2016-23	Valparaiso	Head Coach
2023-24	Missouri	Special Asst.
2024-25	Brown	Assoc. HC
2025-26	GCU	Asst. Coach
2026-	GCU	Assoc. HC

Matt Lottich is in his second season on the GCU bench for the 2026-27 season, serving as associate head coach.

In his first season at GCU, Lottich helped the program transition to the Mountain West Conference, the sixth-toughest league in the nation. The Lopes had the smoothest transition of any newcomer in MW history, tying for third place in the regular-season standings with a 13-7 record in conference play and a 3-1 mark against the league's top two teams (Utah State, San Diego State).

Lottich reunited with Drew as his assistant coach at GCU after serving as Drew's assistant coach previously for three seasons (2013-16) at Valparaiso.

"Matt will be a great addition to our staff and program," Drew said at the time of the hire. "He has great experience as a head coach, assistant coach and player. We look forward to him being a Lope."

Lottich succeeded Drew as Valparaiso head coach for seven seasons (2016-23) before spending the 2023-24 season at Missouri as special assistant to the head coach and 2024-25 at Brown as associate head coach.

The winningest two seasons in Valparaiso basketball history came with Drew and Lottich teaming up on the bench, guiding teams to a 28-6 record in 2014-15 for an NCAA Tournament team and a 30-7 record in 2015-16 for another Horizon League championship.

Lottich guided a 24-win team in his first season as head coach for a third consecutive Horizon title and accumulated 108 wins in his seven seasons, which included Valparaiso's transition to the Missouri Valley Conference.

"The biggest influence is coach Bryce Drew and what he embodied as a coach and the system he ran," Lottich said of his coaching influences upon being named head coach.

Lottich, a three-sport star high school star in the Chicago area, became a 2004 Stanford graduate who helped the Cardinal to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight run, under head coach Mike Montgomery. As a Stanford senior guard, Lottich made the Wooden Award watch list and earned an All-Pac-10 honorable mention.

His high-energy, tenacious play led to a 10-year professional playing career, eight years of which was spent in Japan as a four-time all-star. He also played in Germany and New Zealand.

Lottich began his coaching career in 2013 under Drew, who he considered "a basketball savant," and stayed with Valparaiso for 10 seasons. That included a head coaching win against GCU at the Paradise Jam in U.S. Virgin Islands in November 2019, the season prior to Drew taking over the Lopes.

In 2023-24, Lottich was credited as the Missouri transfer portal coordinator for a recruiting class ranked in the national top five.

In 2024-25, Lottich served as the associate head coach for Brown, where Lopes power forward Nana Owusu-Anane was a team captain during his medical redshirt season. The Bears went 14-13 without their top player.