Danny Yoshikawa joined the Saint Mary’s men’s basketball staff in May, 2015 and is now entering his fifth season as an assistant coach.
Bringing years of varied experience to the staff as both head and assistant coach, Yoshikawa was integral in helping Saint Mary's defeat the #1 ranked team in the country (Gonzaga) en route to the Gaels’ 2nd trip to the NCAA Tournament in 3 years. Coach Yoshikawa helped the Gaels win more games in a 4-year time period (106), than any other time in program history.
In the 2018-19 campaign, Saint Mary’s not only defeated a No. 1 overall team for the first time in school history, but also won 20+ games for the 12th straight season. Yoshikawa, the defensive coordinator, had the Gaels on track as the young team exploded into March. Over the last nine games, Saint Mary’s held their opponents to under 40 percent from the field and just 28.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Gaels' defensive success culminated in their WCC Championship game against No. 1 Gonzaga when they held the nation's top offense to shoot 12 percent from 3-point land, under 40 percent from the field, and score only 47 points, despite averaging over 87 per game during the season.
A year prior, Yoshikawa helped the Gaels to win 30 games in 2017-18, the most in program history. The Gaels finished 16-2 in WCC Conference play for the 2nd time in Yoshikawa’s tenure, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The team finished first in the NCAA for field-goal percentage (51.5), seventh in three-point field goal percentage (41.0), 20th in rebound margin (+6.3), sixth in assist-turnover ratio (1.6) and eighth in the country for fewest turnovers per game (9.9).
Yoshikawa served as the Director of Operations at SMC for two seasons (2015-17), supervising all of the Gaels day to day functioning, administration and scouting before being promoted to assistant coach in 2017.
A Bay Area native, Yoshikawa arrived at Saint Mary’s College from overseas where he served as Head Coach for two seasons in the professional ranks. He began his head-coaching career at West Valley College (Saratoga, Ca.), where he recorded a 144-47 record for a .753 winning percentage over five seasons. He guided the Vikings to consecutive Coast Conference Championships, five straight California State Community College tournaments and two Elite-Eight state championship appearances. His team also advanced to the state championship game and he was named the California State Coach of the Year.
Along the way, Yoshikawa served coaching stints at both UC Santa Barbara and the University of San Francisco. Yoshikawa helped the Gauchos to a 23-9 record, earning a Big West Conference Championship, and advancing to the NIT tournament in the process. As USF’s Associate Head Coach, Yoshikawa helped rebuild the Dons as they recorded their first consecutive 20-win seasons in more than 30 years, while finishing 3rd in the WCC. During his tenure, the Dons played in the post season three consecutive years.
As a student-athlete, Yoshikawa played Point Guard at UC Davis where he guided the Aggies to their first two conference championships in recent program history, leading them to the NCAA tournament in each year. He compiled an impressive 100-29 overall record in his four years as a player, and as a senior, was honored as the Conference Player of the Year and UC Davis Athlete of the Year. Yoshikawa graduated with two Bachelor degrees in International Relations and also in Japanese. He then earned his Master’s Degree in Kinesiology from San Jose State University while starting his coaching career at West Valley College.
Danny currently resides in Moraga with his wife (Alittza), his son (Calvin) and his daughter (Abigail).
