A proven winner with over 300 career victories, Danny Sancomb enters his eighth year as head coach at California (PA) in 2025-26.
Sancomb has reestablished the Vulcans as a contender within the PSAC and Atlantic Region. Cal has won over 100 games over the last five seasons and have boasted a NABC All-American in each of the last two years. Additionally, the Vulcans have made a pair of appearances in the NCAA Tournament over the last four years and advanced to the 2024 PSAC Championship.
In 2024, Cal tied its second-winningest season in program history while finishing with a 28-5 overall record. The Vulcans set a school record with 19 league victories before advancing to the league finals for the first time since 2008. The Vulcans featured four 1,000-point scorers with guard KJ McClurg being tabbed the PSAC West Athlete of the Year, NABC All-American and First-Team Academic All-American. Additionally, Cal was ranked in the NABC Top 25 Coaches’ Poll for the first time in over 15 years and reached as high as No. 8 after entering the year unranked.
The Vulcans returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first timew in over a decade in 2022 when they advanced to the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship. 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 most electrifying players in the country in forward Philip Alston, who led the league in both scoring and rebounding. Alston later played two seasons at Loyola Chicago and debuted in the NBA G League with the Wisconsin Herd of the Milwaukee Bucks last year before suffering a season-ending injury.
While at Cal, Sancomb has mentored a combined 13 All-PSAC West selections and six 1,000-point scorers. Guards Brent Pegram and Zyan Collins both scored over 1,600 points and accounted for nearly 800 combined assists in their careers, while each was tabbed to the All-PSAC West Teams three times. Forward Jermaine Hall, Jr., a two-time All-PSAC West honoree and 1,000-point scorer, competed on ESPN at the 2024 King’s Hawaiian College Slam Dunk Championship after winning a social media fan-voting contest.
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.
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 double-digits, highlighted by an 80-65 victory in the championship game. Haywood Highsmith was selected the Ron Lenz National Player of the Year after leading the country with 29 double-doubles. 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 before losing to eventual-national runner-up 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 15 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. Eli and Luke were members of the Class 2A state championship boys’ basketball team at Wheeling Central Catholic in 2025.
