Cali gold Coaches

Coach Nick Welch is the Founder, Director and Head Coach of the Cali Gold Basketball Club. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the United States Air Force Academy and enjoyed a stellar basketball career with the Falcons. He took the Mountain West Conference by storm as a sophomore in 2003-04 when he was named Mountain West Conference (MWC) Co-Player of the Year and an honorable mention All-American by The Associated Press. He led Air Force to the regular-season conference championship and first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1962.

Coach Nick paced the team in scoring, rebounding, steals and finished second in assists en route to becoming Air Force's first and only conference player of the year. He scored in double figures in all 14 conference games and led the Falcons to a 12-2 record in Mountain West play before falling to North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Coach Nick also helped the Falcons to a school-record 26 wins, a national ranking of No. 11 and a trip to New York City to play at Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals as a senior in '06-07.

​Coach Nick earned his Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration from the University of Concordia at Irvine. He served almost eight years Active Duty in the United States Air Force before he separated as a Captain. His final two years Active Duty he served as an assistant basketball coach for the men’s basketball team at his alma mater, AFA. Since separating from the Air Force, he has worked as a civilian contractor at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, CA and has coached youth sports, to include football and basketball. Coach Nick is married to his wife Julie Tucker and they have five sons, Luke (10), JJ (11), Nick Jr (13), Brody (15) and Max (20).

Coach Sam Turks played his high school basketball at Inglewood High School. As a 3-year starter, Coach Sam led Inglewood to 3 undefeated Bay League titles and a C.I.F Championship with a (30-5) season in 1994. He was awarded McDonald’s All-American nominee, Bay League MVP honors, First Team all C.I.F, First Team All Daily breeze and team Co–MVP honor with NBA Champion “Paul Pierce.” After graduating from Inglewood, Coach Sam received a basketball scholarship to play at Utah State. He was a Prop 48 his Freshmen year. During his Sophomore campaign, Coach Sam Played 4 games in the Maui Invitational Tournament and two preseason games before transferring back home to Ventura College. He played one season with VC, helping them win back-to-back conferences titles. Coach Sam won All Conference’s honors, JUCO All-American honors and team MVP honors. He graduated from Ventura College with an Associate degree while receiving a Basketball Scholarship to (N.A.I.A) Southern of New Orleans. Coach Sam played his Junior and Senior seasons at Southern averaging 17.5 pts 6.3 ast  2.5 steals a game. He led S.U.N.O to their first (N.A.I.A) tournament appearances Elite 8. Coach Sam earned All Conferences and All-Tournament Honors. He graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Psychology from S.U.N.O.

Coach Sam is dedicated to being a great father two awesome kids. He loves working with the youth. Coach Sam organized after school programs for middle schools kids to receive academic tutoring, computer labs, and sports programs at various middle schools. He has been coaching his Slam n Jam and Legacy program in the AAU circuit for over 14 years. Coach Sam is the best development coach in the South Bay and he loves giving back to the youth!

Coach Matthew Shaw was born and raised in Los Angeles, California where he attended Verbum Dei high school where he won 2 CIF championships and one division 4 Southern Section Championship. He later transferred to Fairfax High School where his team was ranked as high as 3rd in the nation. 

After graduating in 2006, he received a scholarship to the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), where he won 2 Mountain West tournament championships and made it to the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. He later graduated in 2010 with a bachelors degree in University Studies and decided to pursue his professional basketball career in 2011. He played 9 seasons in over 11 different countries and was fortunate enough to win a Championship in Ukraine in 2016. 

After finishing his professional basketball career he was presented an opportunity to be a broker at Michel Financial where he is currently working and building plans to help athletes as well as everyday people secure their financial future.

Coach Doan graduated with his Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles as well as a music degree from Musician’s Institute.

Coach Doan played high school and college basketball in Oregon. As a junior, Brad helped lead his team to the State Championship, where they were runners up. He was All-State his senior year leading Pacific Northwest in scoring and assists with 23.5 points and 11 assists per game and he played in the Nike All-State game.

Coach Doan played college basketball at Western Oregon State under Coach Mark Adams, who is ESPN’s Mid-Major head analyst as well as a College Basketball Analyst for the American Sports Network.

Coach Doan previously coach AAU Basketball for legendary Slam N Jam and has spent his last 4 years coaching at Palos Verdes High School where the 2018-2019 season he helped the Sea Kings Post their best record since the school reopened in 2002. Coach Doan is a Gold licensed certified USA Basketball Coach.

Coach Doan is a devoted father and comes from a family of coaches. Brad is a strong proponent for the fundamentals of the game and is a life long gym rat.