State Coach of Year: Andre Chevalier

For leading his program to its first CIF state championship post-COVID with a unit that wasn’t expected to be there in the preseason, Andre Chevalier of Chatsworth Sierra Canyon has been named the 2025 State Coach of the Year in boys basketball. His third CIF state title didn’t come at the open level, but the D1 crown may have been the most satisfying.

For our post on each of the divisional boys basketball State Coaches of the Year, CLICK HERE.

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At the conclusion of this year’s CIF D1 state title game two weeks ago in Sacramento, head coach Andre Chevalier of Chatsworth Sierra Canyon let out a big smile and hug to his assistants and players after his team’s hard-fought victory over Lincoln of Stockton. Chevalier had won big games and state titles before, but this one seemed to have a special meaning.

The Trailblazers were not pre-season favorites to win a CIF state title and the roster was not littered with McDonald’s All-Americans or players recruiting analysts feel are sure-fire future NBA players. The unit was just a band of hard-working individuals that came together to win their last game and it was evident their coach was ecstatic for each and every one of them.

It was definitely a different feeling than when Sierra Canyon won CIF state titles in the open division in 2018 and 2019. Quite frankly, those teams were loaded with talent and included a few players destined for the NBA. Sierra Canyon was expected to win, especially in 2019, and the pressure and spotlight was intense. For Chevalier, there was a sense of relief, along with the adulation, of winning the final game of the season.

For leading his program to a CIF state title against a strong crop of teams when it was a bit unexpected and for his program’s sustained excellence against some of the toughest competition California has to offer, Sierra Canyon’s Chevalier has today been named 2024-25 State Coach of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports.

“I’m so honored to be named Cal-Hi Coach of the Year…I really appreciate being acknowledged in this way,” Chevalier said. “I know that this is an individual honor, but I wouldn’t be who I am as a coach without my assistants, so I want to say thank you them and share the award with them.

“This year’s championship is very special because of all of the adversity we had to endure. The team fought through it all and stuck together, even when everyone on the outside didn’t believe that we could win.”

After starting out this season No. 15 in the state, the Trailblazers suffered a few unexpected losses, but turned it up in the post-season to finish 27-7 and No. 7 in the state with a CIF D1 state title in tow. Sierra Canyon beat state power Corona Centennial, avenged a loss to Santa Barbara, defeated state ranked JSerra of San Juan Capistrano, then Redondo Union of Redondo Beach a second time, before its stout defense and the big plays of junior Maxi Adams closed out the state run vs. Lincoln.

“I agree that this group was a bunch of hard hat workers,” Chevalier said. “The other teams were able to win with individual talent; this group did it as a collective. They were the true definition of TEAM.”

Chevalier is now 3-0 in CIF state title games after winning those back-to-back CIF state open titles. In 2020, the program returned to the CIF open state final looking to become the first program ever to win three consecutive in the open division before the season was shut down two days before the contest because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sierra Canyon is the only program that has participated in the CIFSS Southern Section playoffs each season going back to 2013-14 under previous head coach Ty Nichols.

There was some support for this honor for other coaches whose teams participated in the CIFSS open playoffs, in particular Matt Sargeant of Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks) and Stephen Singleton from Roosevelt of Eastvale. Sargeant did a terrific job for a club that overcame significant injury losses to its rotation players to meet Roosevelt in the CIFSS open title game, where it fell to the Mustangs. Singleton, who earned top coaching honors in 2017 among D1 coaches, went on to lead his preseason state No. 1 team to the CIF Open Division state title in an almost wire-to-wire No. 1 finish (except for two weeks).

Since someone can only be State Coach of the Year once in the more than 45 years in which the honor has been selected by Cal-Hi Sports and for the more than 110 years in which there’s a state coach of the year named, career accomplishments for the winning overall coach also are extremely valued. Chevalier checked that box several years ago.

Chevalier, who coached previously at Cleveland of Reseda, Oak Christian of Westlake Village (where he also coached girls) and Valley Torah of Valley Village, recorded career win No. 450 during the CIFSS playoffs, when Sierra Canyon defeated Redondo Union, 69-66, in overtime. The Trailblazers went on to defeat the Sea Hawks once again in the CIF SoCal D1 final, 74-68, before taking down tough Lincoln, 58-53. His career wins include a 207-40 mark at Sierra Canyon. Before this season, Sierra Canyon never started below No. 5 in the preseason state rankings since he took over the program and includes four straight seasons where the Trailblazers were preseason No. 1 in the state.

The expectations were that high for good reason.

Between the 2016-17 season and 2022-23 season, Chevalier has coached an incredible 12 players that have gone on to play in a regulation NBA game, starting with Marvin Bagley in 2017 when he assisted Nichols before taking over in the post-season. The others who have played at least one NBA game include Duane Washington, Scotty Pippen Jr., K.J. Martin, Cassius Stanley, Christian Koloko, Ziaire Williams, B.J. Boston, Amari Bailey, Trentyn Flowers, LeBron James Jr. and Marcus Bagley.

That total of 12 is the most number of future NBA players from a single program all-time in the state. That number is more than any other program since those schools opened, including long-time state powers Mater Dei of Santa Ana, L.A. Westchester, L.A. Crenshaw, and Long Beach Poly, among others who were producing pros long before Sierra Canyon opened 25 years ago. There is plenty of moving parts, plenty of opinions and plenty of eyeballs on the program at all times and Chevalier has done an admirable job managing all of it.

“Having 12 NBA guys come through the program is an amazing accomplishment,” Chevalier said. “I do think that we take it for granted. I think that because we are always looking forward that we fail to stop and appreciate all of the amazing things we have accomplished and the great people that we have coached.”

Andre also has had the experience of coaching many of these top Sierra Canyon teams while his own daughter, Ashley, was playing for the Trailblazers’ on the girls side. She was all-state in 2019 and helped the school’s girls win the CIF Open Division state title the same season that her dad was coaching the boys to the same title. Ashley is now playing at the University of Houston.

Chevalier played at Cleveland in the late 1980s under future college coach Bobby Braswell in a pressure-cooker of sorts that was a good learning experience for his own coaching. There wasn’t baseline cameras and all the celebrities in the front row, but the expectations were high and the competition cut-throat for a program looking to battle the likes of Crenshaw and Manual Arts for L.A. City supremacy. As a junior, Chevalier played on a team with seven other eventual D1 recruits and backed up two future NBA guards in Adonis Jordan (Kansas) and Lucious Harris (Long Beach St.) before earning a scholarships himself to nearby Cal-St. Northridge after playing for first-year coach Marc Paez during the 1990 season. That 1988-89 Cleveland team might have been the most talented in San Fernando Valley history before Sierra Canyon came around in the last 15 years.

“I learned in ’89 as a back up that to have a great team that some people have to sacrifice,” Chevalier said. “I also learned a great life lesson, that you always have to compete and work for what you want in life because there are so many talented people in the world. I also learned that just because you are talented that it doesn’t guarantee success. You have to out work people.

“Paez taught me that you could lead with quiet confidence and strength; with Paez the team was player-led and that gave us the ability to believe and be confident. He never talked about winning, he was focused on the process which eliminated worrying about expectations.”

BOYS BB STATE COACHES
OF THE YEAR ALL-TIME LIST

(Selected by Cal-Hi Sports)

2025 – Andre Chevalier,
Chatsworth Sierra Canyon (27-7)
2024 – Matt Dunn,
Bellflower St. John Bosco (28-7)
2023 – Mike Hansen,
San Ramon Dougherty Valley (27-4)
2022 – Mike LeDuc, Damien La Verne (31-4)
2021 – Josh Giles, Corona Centennial (21-2)
2020 – Dave Rebibo,
Studio City Harvard-Westlake (25-7)
2019 – Jonas Honick, Ross Branson (31-3)
2018 – Dave Kleckner, Etiwanda (30-4)
2017 – Arnold Zelaya,
San Francisco Mission (35-1)
2016 – Russell White, Encino Crespi (33-4)
2015 – Chuck Rapp, San Mateo Serra (23-6)
2014 – Doug Mitchell,
Torrance Bishop Montgomery (28-6)
2013 – Mike Haupt,
San Diego St. Augustine (29-4)
2012 – Bill Mellis, Richmond Salesian (33-2)
2011 – Eric Cooper, La Verne Lutheran (27-5)
2010 – Dwan Hurt, Gardena Serra (34-2)
2009 – Steve Johnson, Rialto Eisenhower (31-4)
2008 – Dwight Nathaniel, Oakland McClymonds (32-0)
2007 – Harvey Kitani, Los Angeles Fairfax (28-5)
2006 – Peter Diepenbrock, Palo Alto (32-1)
2005 – Pete Newell, Santa Cruz (36-1)
2004 – Don Lippi, Alameda St. Joseph (28-6)
2003 – Zack Jones, San Diego Horizon (32-1)
2002 – Ed Azzam, Los Angeles Westchester (32-2)
2001 – Vance Walberg, Fresno Clovis West (31-3)
2000 – Frank Allocco, Concord De La Salle (31-1)
1999 – Clinton Williams, Oakland Fremont (28-4)
1998 – Jerry DeBusk, Rancho S.M. Santa Margarita (32-2)
1997 – Frank LaPorte, Alameda St. Joseph (31-4)
1996 – Russell Otis, Compton Dominguez (34-2)
1995 – Steve Filios, Mountain View St. Francis (27-8)
1994 – Hank Meyer, Carmichael Jesuit (31-7)
1993 – John Barrette, Palo Alto (31-0)
1992 – Tom Orlich, South Tahoe (30-1)
1991 – Tom McCluskey, Tustin (30-4)
1990 – Lou Cvijanovich, Oxnard Santa Clara (28-0)
1989 – Willie West, L.A. Crenshaw (25-2)
1988 – Reggie Morris, L.A. Manual Arts (27-3)
1987 – Gary McKnight, Santa Ana Mater Dei (31-1)
1986 – Mike Phelps, Oakland Bishop O’Dowd (31-5)
1985 – Stephen Keith, Glendale (28-0)
1984 – Ron Palmer, Long Beach Poly (31-2)
1983 – Jorge Calienes, Rosemead Bosco Tech (25-5)
1982 – Dick Acres, Carson (26-2)
1981 – Maury Halleck, Santa Barbara San Marcos (25-1)
1980 – Leo Allamanno, Oakland Fremont (24-2)
1979 – Dave Shigematsu, Oakland Castlemont (23-3)
1978 – Ben Tapscott, Oakland McClymonds (22-3)
1977 – George Terzian, Pasadena (29-3)
1976 – Bill Armstrong, Palm Springs (22-4)
1975 – John Mihaljevich, Palos Verdes (24-6)
1974 – Dan Risley, Elk Grove (30-0)
1973 – Tom Conway, Stockton Stagg (28-0)
1972 – Tom Cleary, Fresno San Joaquin Memorial (27-2)
1971 – George McQuarn, L.A. Verbum Dei (29-2)
1970 – Spike Hensley, Berkeley (32-0)
1969 – Gordon Nash, La Mesa Helix (29-2)
1968 – Ralph Krafve, East Bakersfield (29-0)
1967 – Frank LaPorte, Oakland Bishop O’Dowd (37-2)
1966 – Len Craven, Whittier Sierra (28-1)
1965 – Leo Allamanno, Oakland Fremont (21-2)
1964 – Bill Mulligan, Long Beach Poly (32-1)
1963 – Bill Armstrong, Compton (27-4)
1962 – Dick Edwards, Sacramento El Camino (23-1)
1961 – Paul Harless, Oakland McClymonds (19-1)
1960 – Bill Thayer, L.A. Fremont (17-1)

List continues back to 1920 in the Cal-Hi Sports State Record Book & Almanac.

Ronnie Flores is the managing editor of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at ronlocc1977@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow him on Twitter: @RonMFlores