After leading one of the region's top programs for over a decade, Danny Sancomb enters his sixth year as head coach at California (PA) in 2023-24.
Sancomb has reestablished the Vulcans as a contender within the PSAC and Atlantic Region. Cal, which posted an 11-win improvement in his second year, has won nearly 60 games over the last three seasons and qualified for the PSAC Tournament in three-consecutive years. Additionally, the Vulcans made the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2008.
During the 2021-22 campaign, Cal finished with 23 victories and advanced to the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship. The Vulcans earned the third seed for the regional tournament and posted victories over Fairmont State and West Virginia State before falling to top-seeded and host IUP. Cal featured one of top scoring offenses in the PSAC, averaging 81.3 points per game behind a trio of All-PSAC West selections.
The Vulcans boasted one of the premier players in Small College Basketball during the 2021-22 campaign, as forward Philip Alston advanced to Bevo Francis Award Top 25 Watch List as a sophomore. Alston was voted a D2CCA All-American after leading the PSAC with both 21.0 points and 10.8 rebounds per game while finishing with 21 double-doubles, which was third-most in NCAA Division II. Guard Brent Pegram closed his career as a three-time All-PSAC West honoree and ranked seventh all-time in school history with over 1,600 points while totaling 400-plus assists and nearly 200 steals.
Sancomb previously spent 11 seasons as head coach at Wheeling and posted a 216-115 record with the Cardinals. In 2018, he led the program to its first-ever Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championship and a third-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Sancomb guided the Cardinals to 100 victories over his last four seasons behind four-consecutive 20-win seasons, one of only four teams in the Atlantic Region to accomplish the feat.
In 2018, Wheeling captured its first league title since 2005 when it was a member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC). The Cardinals earned the second seed in the conference tournament and won each of their three tournament games by at least 14 points, highlighted by an 80-65 victory over Charleston (W.Va.) in the championship game. Senior Haywood Highsmith, a 6-foot-7 Baltimore native, was selected the Ron Lenz National Player of the Year after leading the country with 29 double-doubles behind 22.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. Highsmith made his NBA debut with the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2018-19 season and helped the Miami Heat advance to the 2023 NBA Finals.
Sancomb guided the Cardinals to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship during the 2016-17 campaign. Wheeling capped the regular season with a 101-98 triple-overtime victory against nationally-ranked West Liberty to earn the third seed for the MEC Tournament. After losing to the Hilltoppers in the semifinals of the league tournament, the Cardinals responded with a 96-95 overtime win against West Liberty in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Wheeling, which was the sixth seed in the regional, then posted a 97-91 win over second-seeded Shippensburg before losing to eventual-national runner-up Fairmont State in the regional final.
In the 2015-16 season, Sancomb led Wheeling to a school-record 28 wins and the Cardinals were ranked No. 1 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll for the first time in program history. Wheeling boasted a 21-game winning streak when it achieved the No. 1 ranking on February 23, 2016 before finishing the year tied for first in the MEC standings. The Cardinals advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament before being selected the top seed and host of the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship. For his efforts, Sancomb was named both the NABC Atlantic Region and MEC Coach of the Year.
Sancomb coached 12 All-MEC honorees, including seven first-team selections, since the inception of the league for the 2013-14 season. Highsmith was a three-time All-MEC selection and finished his career with over 1,950 points and 1,250 rebounds. Guard Eric Siefert earned All-MEC First-Team honors in three-consecutive years and scored nearly 1,650 points while collecting almost 500 assists in his career. Forward Pat Moseh was a two-time All-MEC First-Team selection after being tabbed the 2015 MEC Freshman of the Year and tallied over 1,700 points during his career.
Prior to his time as a head coach at Wheeling, Sancomb served as athletic director and head boys' basketball coach at St. Mary's Ryken High School in Southern Maryland. He led the basketball program to its first winning season in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) at 16-10 after the program won just two games the previous year. Sancomb mentored 10 all-conference players and a McDonald's All-America nominee during his three seasons as the scholastic level.
Sancomb was as an assistant coach at Wheeling before accepting the position at St. Mary's Ryken. He served on the coaching staff of Jay DeFruscio, who was named WVIAC Coach of the Year in 2003 after leading the program to its first 20-win season in six years.
A native of Maryland, Sancomb was a prolific scorer while playing two seasons for DeFruscio at Wheeling. He led the WVIAC in scoring as both a junior and senior and was an All-WVIAC First-Team selection in both seasons. Sancomb ranks among the top 10 all-time in school history with 1,454 career points after leading NCAA Division II in scoring as a senior with 26.9 points per game. The Cardinals were ranked as high as No. 2 in the country while Sancomb was a player.
Sancomb, a 2008 Wheeling Athletic Hall of Fame inductee, earned his bachelor's degree from Wheeling in criminal justice in 1998. He later completed a master's degree in business administration from the institution in 2003.
He and his wife, Rebecca, have three sons, Eli, Luke and Jack.
