Coaching Staff
Joe Callero
Head Coach
1st year • Central Washington 1986

• Earned Bachelor's at Central Washington in 1986, Masters at Seattle Univ. 1991

• Seattle University had four consecutive winning season's under Callero, posting a 75-37 record.

• Led Seattle University to a 21-8 record in 2008-09

• Was 13-8 against Division l opponents during the 2008-09 season

• Seattle finished the 2008-09 season with a Sagarin USA/Today ranking of 131

• Advanced Seattle University to the Division II National Championship Tournament for first time in 38 years during the 2006-07 season, posting a 20-9 record.

• Callero Guided Highline Community College to back-to-back championships and a combined 63-2 record.


Joe Callero, who successfully revitalized college basketball programs in his last two head coaching assignments, was named head coach of the Cal Poly program on April 3, 2009.

Callero had served as head coach at Seattle University the last eight years, leading the Redhawks to a 117-105 record, including a 21-8 mark this past season, the school’s first year of transition back to the Division I level.

The campaign included a 10-game winning streak, a 10-0 record at home, the best winning percentage at Seattle in 45 years and victories on the road over Big West Conference members Cal Poly and UC Irvine.

He was 13-8 against Division I schools during the season. Seattle had the best record of any independent Division I team.

Callero is the fourth head coach at Cal Poly since the school made the transition to Division I in 1994.

Seattle had four consecutive winning seasons under Callero, posting a 75-37 mark during that span. It was the first time in the past 36 years the Redhawks had four straight winning campaigns.

For the 2008-09 season, Seattle finished the year with a final Jeff Sagarin USATODAY rating of 131 (out of 347 schools).

During the 2006-07 season, Seattle was 20-9, winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship and advancing to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in 38 years.

Callero coached the 2002-03 Redhawks to a 16-11 mark, the school’s first winning season in nine years and a 10-game improvement from the previous campaign.

Prior to his tenure at Seattle, Callero guided the University of Puget Sound to a 22-25 record in two seasons. In his second year, the team had a 14-10 record, the first winning season in nine years.

Callero was a prominent figure in the Pacific Northwest basketball coaching scene. In a pair of three-year stints at Highline Community College (1989-92, 1995-98), he guided his team to back-to-back NWAACC championships in 1997 and 1998 with a combined record of 63-2, earning honors as the Northwest Division Coach of the Year both seasons.

During his time at Highline, Callero coached Brian Scalabrine, who currently plays for the NBA's Boston Celtics. He recruited Scalabrine while coaching at Southern California.

Between his stints at Highline, Callero served as the head basketball coach and guidance counselor at Sumner High School from 1992-95. He led Sumner to its first winning season in six years.

A graduate of Central Washington University, Callero helped guide the Wildcats to NAIA national tournament appearances in his two seasons at the university and received his bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1986.

A team captain and point guard at Central Washington, Callero received his master's degree in education (post-secondary counseling) from Seattle University in 1991 and his associate of arts degree from Highline Community College in 1983. He is a graduate of Enumclaw High School.

Callero is one of 16 children, his brother Marc is the current head coach at South Puget Sound Community College.

Callero and his wife Erika, have one daughter, Malia.



Mark Amaral
Associate Head Coach
• 1st year College of Idaho, 1990

• Earned Master's Degree at Idaho State '94

• Spent two years with Colorado State in the Mountain West Conference

• Spent seven years as recutting coordinator at UC Santa Barbara

• served as head coach at Peninsula College to resurrect a basketball program after a 17-year absence from intercollegiate athletics.

• 1999-2000, Amaral guided Peninsula to a school-record 28 victories, a confer ence championship and a sixth-place finish at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Tournament when he was selected as the NWAACC Northern Division Coach of the Year.

Former Colorado State and UC Santa Barbara assistant coach Mark Amaral joined the Cal Poly men’s basketball coaching staff as an associate head coach in June of 2009.

Amaral returns to the Central Coast after a two-year term at Colorado State where he worked with the post players and recruiting coordinator as well as game preparation.

Prior to coaching at Colorado State, Amaral spent seven years with Big West foe UC Santa Barbara and served as the recruiting coordinator. His responsibilities also included the development of the backcourt players, on-court coaching, in-season scouting of opponents, and academic concerns of the student-athletes.

During Amaral's tenure with the Gauchos, he helped UCSB win the Big West Conference Tournament Championship and the outright conference championship in 2002 and 2003, respectively, the first such titles in the history of the university.

Prior to joining UCSB, Amaral served as head coach at Peninsula College to resurrect a basketball program after a 17-year absence from intercollegiate athletics.

In the program's first season under his direction, he guided Peninsula College to a respectable 11-16 record. In 1998-99 the team went 19-9 and then in his final season, 1999-2000, Amaral guided Peninsula to a school-record 28 victories, a conference championship and a sixth-place finish at the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges Tournament when he was selected as the NWAACC Northern Division Coach of the Year.

In addition to his coaching duties at Peninsula College, he served as a physical education instructor and community and high school relations coordinator.

Amaral spent two years as a player at West Valley Community College where he played for current Cal State Fullerton head coach Bob Burton, before moving on to play his final two years at The College of Idaho.

While at The College of Idaho, he helped his teams to NAIA Elite Eight appearances in back-to-back seasons. In fact, Amaral has participated in some form of postseason in 15 of his 22 years as a player and a coach.

A native of Santa Clara, Amaral received his bachelor's degree in business/marketing in 1990 from The College of Idaho. In 1994, he completed his master's degree in physical education at Idaho State.

He and his wife, Chris, have two sons, Tanner and Landon.


Mitch Freeman
Assistant Coach
First Year - Washington State 2004

• Earned Masters from Grand Canyon in 2008

• Served as assistant coach under Callero at Seattle University

• While at Washington State University, he worked under head coach Dick Bennett

Assistant coach Mitch Freeman joins the staff from Seattle University. During his tenure, Freeman assisted in development of Seattle University into a Division I basketball program. In his final season the Redhawks posted an impressive 21-8 mark in the schools first year at Division I.

Freeman started his coaching career as a varsity boy’s basketball assistant at Marysville-Pilchuck High School under head coach Mike Lowery. His duties included coordinating off-season workouts, grade checks, working with the guards, scouting opposing teams, video editing and other administrative duties.

Prior to coaching at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Freeman was a student assistant for the Washington State University men’s basketball program from 1999-2004. During this time, he assisted with daily practice in addition to traveling, video exchange and other administrative duties within the program. While at Washington State University, he worked under head coach Dick Bennett.

After graduating from Washington State University in 2004 with a bachelor's in kinesiology and an emphasis in Health and Fitness Education, he taught for three years in both the Marysville and Seattle school districts. Freeman also holds a Masters Degree in Education Administration from Grand Canyon University, which he obtained in 2008.

Mitch is engaged to Nicole Shigeoka with plans to marry in May.

Omar Lowery
Assistant Coach
First Year - Concordia-Wisconsin 2002

• Earned Masters from Eastern New Mexico 2006

• During his tenure at Texas State, Lowery helped sign seven Top-40 high school players in the State of Texas

• At Concordia University in Mequon, Wisc., named First-Team All-Lakeshore Conference selection.

Head coach Joe Callero completed his staff with the announcement of Omar Lowery as assistant coach in June of 2009. Lowery joins the Mustang staff after three years with Texas State, where he helped improve the team in each of those seasons.

During his tenure at Texas State, Lowery helped sign seven Top-40 high school players in the State of Texas and had the Bobcats contending for a Southland Conference postseason tournament berth. Prior to serving at Texas State, Lowery was a graduate assistant coach at Eastern New Mexico University.

As a member of the Eastern New Mexico staff, Lowery had an extensive list of responsibilities including on-court coaching, recruiting, scouting opponents and game preparation. In addition to his coaching duties, Lowery served as a faculty member, teaching classes in the physical education department.

Lowery played two seasons at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas before transferring to Concordia University in Mequon, Wisc., where he went on to be a First-Team All-Lakeshore Conference selection.

He also helped Concordia earn a berth in the 2000 NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in school history.

Lowery graduated in 2002 from Concordia with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and completed his master’s in sports administration at Eastern New Mexico in 2006

Mitch Reaves
Basketball Operations
1st year, Washington State 2008

Mitch Reaves joins the Cal Poly staff after serving as Director of Basketball Operations for one season at Seattle University with head coach Joe Callero.

Prior to joining Callero at Seattle, Reaves served as the team manager for Washington State men’s basketball program from 2005 to 2008.

He assisted with maintaining the recruiting database, film exchange, video operations, coordinating team meals and activities, and mailing out letters and packages to recruits.

Reaves was also the coordinator of membership services for the Win The Tip! Basketball coaches network. He was in charge of updating new members and member profiles on the organization's website as well as planning a coaching retreat and assisting in writing weekly emails to members.

Reaves also served as a camp coach at the 2006 and 2007 Washington State and 2006 UCLA summer camps. He received his bachelor of arts degree in sports management with an emphasis in business administration.

Eric Esparza
Community Relations
Fourth year, CS Stanislaus 1996

Eric begins his fourth year working with the Cal Poly staff and his first under head coach Joe Callero.

He spent his first three years serving as the Mustangs' administrative assistant.

Prior to joining Cal Poly, Eric served as associate head coach at Columbia College in Sonora, CA. Prior to his tenure at Columbia, Eric served as an assistant coach at Oakdale High School.

The 1996 graduate of Cal State Stanislaus is married to former Cal Poly standout women's tennis player Paige Esparza (Billingsley).