CHRIS DIAL is entering his fourth season as head basketball coach for the men's team.

In 2020-2021, the Saints opted out of the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) championship season due to COVID-19 issues, but they were able to play five official games, plus several exhibitions. They played NCAA D1 schools: Rice University (exhibition), the University of the Incarnate Word (L 71-84), the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (exhibition), Texas State University (W 61-58), the University of New Mexico (exhibition), Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (L 72-99), the University of Texas at San Antonio (L 70-102), the University of Houston (exhibition) and Rice (L 77-80).

In the 2019-2020 season, the team finished with a 10-18 overall record and 6-12 mark in the conference.

Dial was born and raised in San Antonio, where he attended East Central High School, and where he coached basketball at St. Gerard Catholic High School and McCollum High School, as well as John Paul II Catholic High School in Schertz and New Braunfels High School.

Dial is the founder of The Basketball Embassy (TBE), a multinational, nonprofit organization that builds community through basketball and assists National Basketball Federations as well as other organizations in their quest to grow and develop the game of basketball in their country or region. Dial established TBE in 2014 to promote a fundamental brand of basketball intertwined with intangible elements like dedication, hard work, integrity and education in an effort to produce ambassadors of the game.

OLLU has been a partner with TBE since 2016, often serving as host to The Assembly, a weeklong event that brings elite youth female and male athletes ages 15-17 to campus. Participants through the years have represented over 30 countries, including the United States. Aside from on-court practice and training sessions, the campers have the opportunity to be recognized by numerous universities throughout the U.S. as well as network with stakeholders in the global basketball community. The San Antonio Spurs have endorsed the camp and were an official partner for Assembly 2019.

Also, Dial has been the program director for the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Europe U14 Development Project in Southeastern Europe. FIBA Europe pioneered a program that simultaneously raised the level of basketball in four countries, using a fifth, more established country as a source of guidance and support. Players from Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Kosovo, with Turkey playing the "Big Brother" role all participated in the program that Dial oversaw.

Dial also has been heavily involved with the Swedish Basketball Federation in Stockholm and most recently the Belarusian Basketball Federation in Minsk. He has assisted by providing basketball lecturers, clinics, game observations and exchange in efforts to develop their programs.

The Admirals Basketball Academy (ABA) in Chisinau, Moldova, and the Macedonia Basketball Federation (MBF) in Skopje, Macedonia, have also been among Dials main projects prior to coming to OLLU. He has been a head coach and camp and clinic director for ABA for several years. The organization is supported by the U.S. State Department under the direction of the U.S. Embassy in Chisinau. With the MBF, Dial has served as a coaching coordinator and advisor. He has placed several highly qualified American coaches in their system for the summer allowing them to coach and mentor the players and the assistant coaches in their national team system.

Dial's other career positions include the Kosovo Basketball Federation Coordinator of Youth National Teams (U16/U18) Head Coach; Bulgarian Basketball Federation Mentor Coach/Adviser for the Youth National Teams; Turkish Basketball Federation Head Coach, Camp and Clinic Director; Romanian Basketball Federation Head Coach, Camp and Clinic Director; International Basketball Federation Head Coach and Camp Director; Northern Cyprus Basketball Federation Head Coach, Camp and Clinic Director; Guler Legacy Basketball Advisor in Istanbul; Director of Coaching for Sporting Work in Istanbul; and Sports for Life in Palestine/Israel Head Coach, Camp and Clinic Director.

Dial has made it a priority to be actively involved in the community. He initiated and created the Youth Ambassador Program for homeless facilities in San Antonio like Haven for Hope and SAMM Ministries, as well as at risk youth-serving partners like SA Youth.

Dial received a degree in political science and psychology from Texas Lutheran University, where he played on the basketball team. He later attended Texas State University, where he completed a master's program in international studies. His son JT was born in 2017 and is the Saints biggest fan.

Marcus Thompson has joined the men's basketball coaching staff as an assistant coach.

Thompson comes to OLLU after the head-coaching position at Coastal Bend College in Beeville, Texas. He became the head coach at the junior college in 2019, and before that, he was the assistant coach there for one season. While at Coastal Bend, Thompson also was part of the faculty teaching business computer information systems, and he was an academic adviser.

At OLLU from 2010-2014, Thompson led the men's basketball team to a 2011-2012 Red River Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship, runner up at the postseason tournament and a round of 16 finish at the NAIA National Tournament. In 2010-2011, the team was postseason semifinalists; in 2012-2013, the Saints were postseason quarterfinalists; and in 2013-2014, the men finished as postseason semifinalists.

Thompson's accolades included National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court recipient, All-Conference, Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Defensive Player of the Year, three-time RRAC Scholar-Athlete. Thompson holds several records that still stand today: most games played (128), most assists (630), most steals (315), season-best assists average (7.1), season most steals (131) and season-best steals average (4.1). Thompson also owns the record for the most steals in a game at OLLU and throughout the NAIA, with 15 in a game against Paul Quinn College in 2014.

"Coach Thompson is an excellent young coach and is a product of the university and city he'll be serving," Dial said. "Our players are lucky to be around a man of his character and caliber. He will bring an extraordinary passion, work ethic and energy to our team."

Before his time at Coastal Bend, Thompson was the head coach for the UC Hoops – Adidas Gauntlet Program and head coach at Great Hearts Monte Vista. Before that, he was an accountant at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Thompson received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting in May 2014 and his Master of Business Administration in Management in 2016 – both from OLLU.

He and his wife Julie – an OLLU alumna and four-year Saints' softball student-athlete –are parents to two boys.

BJ ALZAID is the Head Coach for the Men's Basketball Development Team and is the team's recruiting coordinator.

Alzaid recruited Saints standout Ruben Monzon, who has received Red River Athletic Conference All-Conference recognition and Scholar-Athlete recognition. He also recruited the conference's Freshman of the Year, Victor Roper.

Alzaid has 12 years of experience coaching at the collegiate level. He began his coaching career at Temple Junior College in Temple, Texas, from 2002-2004. He helped Kirby Johnson’s teams advance to the postseason both years. Alzaid joined Stan Bonewitz at Concordia University in the 2007-2008 season and was the recruiting coordinator from 2008-2014, guiding the program’s first-ever NCAA postseason victory. The team captured one league championship and made three conference tournament title game appearances. Forty players earned all-conference honors, and two have tabbed American Southwest Conference (ASC) West Division Players of the Year (Brad Walker, 2010; Dwayne Patterson, 2013). Additionally, two players earned ASC West Division Freshman of the Year awards (Joel McDonald, 2008; Nick Haynes, 2010). Throughout six seasons, the Tornados averaged 92.4 points per game, leading to a fast-tempo scoring style.

In 2013-2014, the Tornados posted a 16-10 record and advanced to the ASC Tournament for the seventh time in the past eight seasons. Patterson and Sanchez both earned first-team All-ASC accolades, while Patterson also collected D3hoops.com second-team All-West Region honors.

In 2012-2013, Alzaid guided Concordia to its best season since it joined NCAA Division III. The Tornados won the ASC Tournament Championship for the first time in school history and advanced to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Concordia’s 87-83 victory over Trinity in the opening round of the NCAA postseason tournament allowed the squad to advance to the Round of 32. Alzaid’s squad posted a 24-6 overall record, the best for the Tornados since the 1981-1982 campaign. Concordia, which ranked second in the country with an average of 94 points per game, finished second in the ASC West Division to qualify for its sixth ASC Tournament in seven seasons, where it upset the top two seeds in route to the crown.

In 2014-2015 Alzaid coached high school basketball in Dallas and advanced McKinney North to the state playoffs.

From 2015-2017, Alzaid returned to Concordia to assist the women’s program. The Tornados made the postseason each year he was there.

Alzaid earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from Concordia University-Texas in 2008. He also earned a master’s degree from Concordia in curriculum and Instruction in 2010.

He and his wife Sylvia are the parents of a daughter, Nova.

DAVID W. SMITH begins his second season as one of the men’s basketball assistant coaches.

For the last six seasons, Smith was an assistant at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Smith served in the United States Army for more than 23 years and retired at the major's rank. In that time period, he gained invaluable coaching experience. He was the head coach of the Men’s All-Army Basketball Team from 2009-2012, which required selecting 22 players from a pool of 250 applicants each year. During his time as the head coach, the All-Army Team had many talented players to include former D1 and D2 conference players of the year and several overseas professional players.

Smith also was a four-time head coach, two-time assistant coach and chief of mission for the Men’s All-Armed Forces (USA) Team from 2009-2012. He played a significant role in training the team to compete at a national (Olympic) level.

Smith’s teams won gold, silver and bronze medals at numerous tournaments, including the Armed Forces Basketball Championships, the World Military Games and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) international tournament.

He received several commendations from the Army, where he served as a company commander in a combat theater of operations. Smith also was a member of the White House Communications Agency in Washington, D.C.

Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in justice administration from Hawaii Pacific University in 2004. In 2014, Smith received a master’s degree in management/logistics management from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Smith has been married for more than 20 years to Dina Smith, a retired Army major with 26 years of service. They have two children, Lonnie and Lorin.

SEAN PATTERSON begins his second season as one of the men’s basketball assistant coaches.

Patterson was born in Toledo, Ohio, and graduated from Toledo Bowsher High School in 1982. He was a two-sport athlete in basketball and baseball and was inducted into the high school hall of fame in 2019. Following his high school playing career, Patterson played collegiate basketball at the University of Wisconsin Parkside and Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio. Patterson scored more than 1,000 points and was among the all-time leaders in assists and steals per game.

Patterson brings 32 years of coaching experience to OLLU. He coached numerous NBA and international players for the All-Ohio Red Nike Basketball Club. While in Ohio, he also coached at St. John’s Jesuit High School in Toledo. Patterson coached in three Division 1 final four state championships while at St. John’s Jesuit High School. He also won three regional championships as an assistant and numerous district and city championships in his coaching career in Ohio.

George Patterson, Sean’s father, played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons from 1967-1968.

He has been married for 34 years to Karen Patterson, and they have five children. Sean II, Abby, Kacie, Shea and Nicholas have all played or are playing in NCAA Division I and Division 2 sports. Patterson also has three grandchildren, Walker, Carsyn and Noah.