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).

HARVEY KITANI, 17U NATIONAL

We are excited to announce the addition of Harvey Kitani to our staff!  Coach Kitani is one of the most acclaimed and successful coaches in California high school basketball history, currently ranking fifth all-time with 910 wins. 

He was head coach at LA City powerhouse Fairfax High for 35 years, garnering four City championships and two State titles. He is now the coach at Rolling Hills Prep, where he's won four CIF championships and one State title. 

Among his honors and roles, Coach Kitani was the Head Coach of West team at the 2006 McDonald's All American Game ... was named John Wooden National Coach of the Year in 2004 and NHSCA National Coach of the Year in 2010 .. .is currently one of the Court Coaches for USA Basketball Ul 7 ... and has been a Nike consultant for 25 years. 

During his coaching tenure, over 150 of his players have earned college scholarships and four of them have played in the NBA. 

Coach Kitani says, "In 40-plus years of coaching I have never been involved with any AAU program ... until now. That's because the California Gold Club is doing it the right way. Hard work, fundamentals, disciplined training and playing. From the top down, first class in valuing student athletes and their families." 

Coach Greg Clark, 16U NATIONAL 

Coach Clark returned to the PVHS after 2 years as the programs Head Coach in 2014 and 2015. Coach Clark has 23 years of coaching experience at all levels of basketball including 4 years of college basketball at the Division I, II, & III levels as well as some of the top club teams in the region.

Coach Chans , 15U NATIONAL

Coach Chans Smyth brings over 10 years of coaching experience in HS basketball, he spent 3 seasons at Price HS & had a (50-20) record & took his team to the championship in his first season. Currently the Associate HC at South Pasadena HS coach Chans has trained/develop some of the best talent in California.  A local gym rat that is committed to developing talent in the community. Coach Smyth brings a good brand of basketball that is tough & in your face defensively & uptempo style of play that allows all the kids to flourish in. 

• Arleta HS, Head Coach (2 years) 

• St. Bernard, Associate HC (4 years) 

• Crossroads, Assistant Coach (1 year) 

• Price HS, Head Coach (3 years) 

• South Pasadena, Associate HC (present)

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 Aaron Villeda is ‘The South Bay Coach.’ He has developed most of the top talent in the South Bay the last eight years.  Coach Aaron is a professional basketball skills developer that resides in the South Bay and focuses on developing players from youth to professional athletes.

He has coached at many of the high schools in the South Bay, including national powerhouse Bishop Montgomery High School.  He was on Varsity staff in 2017 when they went 30-2 against LaMelo Ball (Chino/Hornets), RJ Barrett(Montverde/Knicks), BolBol(Mater Dei/Nuggets), & Marvin Bagley Jr. (Sierra Canyon/Kings). Bishop finished number 2 in the nation. 

The last eight years Coach Aaron has been working rigorously developing the young talent in the South Bay, ensuring that their talent is not overlooked and under-appreciated. 

EXPERIENCE

Assistant Varsity Coach

Chadwick HS, Rancho Palos Verdes, — 2022 - present

Assistant Varsity Coach

Bishop Montgomery HS, Torrance, — 2019-2020

Assistant Varsity Coach

Redondo Union HS, Redondo Beach, CA — 2017-2018

Head Freshmen Coach

Bishop Montgomery HS, Torrance, CA — 2016-2017

Founder / Director / Coach

South Bay Stars (AAU) — 2014 - present

Director / Coach

Realizing Amazing Potential — 2008 - 2016