Men's Basketball Coaching Staff
Jason Lowery
Head
Men's Basketball Coach
jlowery@pacificu.edu
Jason Lowery, a former Jesuit High School standout who has spent the last decade coaching at the NCAA Division III and NAIA levels, is in his fourth season as Pacific's head men's basketball coach.
Lowery has succeeded in moving his team up in the Northwest Conference standings each season. Last year, Lowery led the Boxers to a tie for third place in the league standings, their best finish since the 1999-2000 NCAA Tournament season.
With their 9-7 conference mark, the Boxers posted their first back-to-back .500 or better records in NWC play since the 1990-91 campaign. He also coached forward Garold Howe to the Boxers' first All-Northwest Conference First Team selection in nine years.
Under Lowery's leadership, the Boxers amassed 12 wins and a fourth place NWC finish during the 2006-07 campaign. In his first season, Lowery managed to double the team's amount of victories over the year before, which included a win over eventual SCIAC champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and a near-upset on the road over Southern Oregon, who at the time was ranked No. 1 on the NAIA Division II national poll.
Lowery replaced longtime head coach Ken Schumann in 2005 after Schumann was promoted to director of athletics. He came to Pacific from Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, Calif., where Lowery served as an assistant coach for four seasons.
During his tenure, Lowery worked under Charles Katsiaficas in a powerhouse among small college teams in southern California. He helped guide the Sagehens to the SCIAC championship in 2004 and 2005. The team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament in 2005, losing to eventual west sectional finalist Trinity (Texas).
Prior to coaching at Pomona-Pitzer, Lowery served from 1999-2001 as the head coach at Hope International, a NAIA Division I school in Fullerton, Calif. In his two seasons at the helm, Lowery led the Royals to the two winningest seasons that the program has experienced over the last decade. Lowery started his coaching career as an assistant coach at Redlands.
In addition to his coaching duties, Lowery has served as a physical education instructor at both Pomona-Pitzer and Hope International and currently teaches a coaching methods class at Pacific. In 2001, Lowery founded the Special Touch Basketball School, which he continues to operate.
Lowery transitioned into coaching following an outstanding prep and college playing career. Lowery was a three-year captain and starter for Pomona-Pitzer, and was part of three SCIAC championship and NCAA tournament teams. He was an All-SCIAC selection in 1997 and set the Sagehens' career record for games played. In his four seasons, Pomona-Pitzer won 72 percent of their games and 82 percent of their conference contests.
Lowery played his prep basketball at Jesuit High School in Portland from 1990-1993, and was a two-time All-Metro League selection.
A native of Portland, Lowery graduated from Pitzer College in 1997 with a degree in psychology and earned a master's degree in education from Redlands in 1999. He and his wife Melissa, also a Portland native, have two daughters, six-year-old Jayla and four-year-old Ché. All three are regular attendees of Pacific basketball games.
Richard Warren
Assistant
Men's Basketball Coach
Richard Warren is in his seventh year as an assistant coach for the Pacific men's basketball program, returning in 2005 to join Jason Lowery after a year away from the program.
Warren is in his 10th season of association with Pacific basketball. He served for three seasons as an assistant coach for Ken Schumann, and from 1999-2002 was an assistant coach in the Boxer women's basketball program.
A golfer by habit, Warren is in his sixth season as the head coach of the Boxer men's and women's golf teams. He led the Boxer women to Northwest Conference championships in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008, and led the Boxers to their first appearance in the NCAA Division III National Tournament in 2008. The crowns earned Warren the conference's Coach of the Year honor each season.
Prior to arriving in Forest Grove, Warren spent five seasons as the boys' basketball coach at nearby Banks High School, where he took the program from one win prior to his arrival to a competitive team when he departed. In addition to basketball, Warren started and coached the boys' and girls' golf programs at Banks and coached the volleyball teams at Banks and Yamhill-Carlton.
Married with two children, Warren attended Seattle's Cleveland High School, Central Oregon Community College and Portland Community College. When not coaching, Warren can be found honing his golf skills at local courses.
Branden Kawazoe
Assistant
Men's Basketball Coach
A former All-Northwest Conference guard for the Boxers, Branden Kawazoe returns to Forest Grove to join Jason Lowery's staff as an assistant coach.
Kawazoe played four years for the Boxers, earning Honorable Mention All-NWC honors in 2004 and 2006. He led the Boxers in scoring in 2006 and ranked 11th in the conference with 14.2 points per game. A three-year starter, Kawazoe finished with 927 and currently ranks in a tie for 15th on Pacific's all-time scoring list.
Last year, Kawazoe served as the head boys' basketball coach at Neil Armstrong Middle School in Forest Grove and also served as a volunteer assistant coach with the Boxers.
A native of Hilo, Hawaii, Kawazoe was the 2002 Big Island Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year and led Waiakea High School to the BIIF championship.
Kawazoe graduated from Pacific in 2006 with a degree in business administration. When not coaching, Kawazoe is employed as a patient services assistant with the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Jason Townsend
Assistant
Men's Basketball Coach
A product of one of Jason Lowery's first programs at Pacific, Jason Townsend returns to the sidelines for his first season as a Pacific assistant coach.
Townsend played two years for the Boxers after transferring to Pacific from Skagit Valley Community College in Mt. Vernon, Wash. As a junior college player, Townsend was a nominee for Skagit Valley's Athlete of the Year award and ranked No. 2 on the school's modern era assists list.
Since leaving Pacific, Townsend has spent the last two seasons coaching youth teams. He has served as a head boys' basketball coach at Neil Armstrong High School in Forest Grove, leading the Titans to two first place league finishes. He also spent two seasons coaching the Forest Grove Classic seventh grade and eighth grade programs.
A native of Tacoma, Wash., Townsend played his prep basketball at Mt. Tahoma High School. He is a 2006 graduate of Pacific with a degree in psychology.