Jason Flowers - Head Coach - Women's Basketball Coaches

Photo by: Big West Conference

Jason Flowers

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
jason.flowers@csun.edu
Phone:
3995

The Flowers File

Most coaching wins in CSUN history
Most Wins in Program History in a Season (2015)
Three Big West Tournament Champions / NCAA Appearances (2014, 2015, 2018)
2-Time Big West Coach of the Year (2012, 2014)
3 Conference Players of the Year (2014, 2017, 2018)
3 Conference Tournament MVPs (2014, 2015, 2018)
3 Freshmen of the Year (2012, 2016, 2017)
8 Players in the pros in 7 seasons
20 All-Conference Selections

Jason Flowers will begin his 11th season as CSUN women’s basketball coach in the Fall of 2020. Flowers has completely reshaped the identity and culture of the Matadors.

Under Flowers’ watch, CSUN won the Big West Tournament Championship in 2014, 2015, and 2018 to earn the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Matadors also won the Big West regular season title in 2014 for the first time in program history. Flowers is the winningest coach in CSUN history, winning his 150th career game Mar. 7, 2020 at UC Riverside (74-49).

Inheriting a program that won 13 games in the three seasons prior to his arrival, Flowers has transformed the Matadors into a regional power. For his work, Flowers was named the Big West Coach of the Year following the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons.

The 2019-20 season saw the Matadors qualify for the program's ninth consecutive Big West Tournament as CSUN posted a 12-19 record. De'Jionae Calloway was selected second team All-Conference while Deja Williams was named to the Big West's All-Freshman team.

The 2018-19 Matadors went 16-15 and tied for second in the Big West Conferenc with a 10-6 mark. Channon Fluker was named Big West Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and became just one of five Big West players to be named first team All-Conference four times. Serafina Maulupe was chosen second team All-Conference. Eliza Matthews was named to the league’s All-Defensive team while Jordyn Jackson was named to the BWC’s All-Freshman team.

The 2017-18 season was one for the ages as the Matadors became the first five-seed to win the Big West Tournament. Even more impressive was the fact CSUN won four games in five days to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Matadors traveled to Notre Dame where in the loss to the Fighting Irish, CSUN scored the most points in a game by a No. 16 seed (81) since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1994.

Led by a senior quintet comprised of his first true recruiting class, the 2014-15 team set a program record with 23 victories. The Matadors finished 11-5 in Big West action and knocked off UC Davis in the Semifinals and Hawai’i in the Finals to repeat as Big West Tournament Champions.

In 2013-14, the Matadors rebounded from a 4-10 start to finish 18-15 overall and 12-4 in Big West play. CSUN knocked off UC Irvine in the Big West Tournament Semifinals and toppled Cal Poly in the Big West Tournament Championship to earn both the regular season and tournament titles.

After a four-win season in his first year, the Matadors orchestrated the best turnaround in NCAA Division I in 2011-12 by finishing 18-15. CSUN finished second in the Big West Standings that year and participated in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.

Flowers’ student-athletes have earned multiple Big West honors in his time in charge of the program. Fluker was named the 2016 Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, CollegeSportsMadness.com’s National Mid-Major Freshman of the Year and was became the first freshman to earn first team All-Big West honors in over a decade.

Fluker built on her impressive start and earned 2017 Big West Conference Player of the Year honors. She became the first player in more than 25 years to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. The 6-4 center spent the summer of 2017 as part of USA Basketball Women’s U23 National Team Training Camp.

For the second year in a row, Fluker was named Big West Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Year in 2018. Fluker became the fifth player in BWC history to repeat as Big West Player of the Year and is the first since Brittany Crain of UC Riverside (2015, 2016). She is the fifth Big West player to lead the league and blocks in the same season and is only the second in to do it in consecutive seasons. Fluker was also named Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and first team All-Conference.

Matthews became the third Matador to be named Big West Conference Freshman of the Year in 2017 while Claudia Ramos played for the Mexican National Team at the 2017 FIBA Women’s Americup.

Ashlee Guay received Big West Player of the Year honors in 2014, the first Matador in program history to be named her league’s top honor. Guay left CSUN as the school’s all-time leader in multiple categories, including career points, assists, steals and 3-pointers.

Camille Mahlknecht (2014) and Janae Sharpe (2015) each won Big West Defensive Player of the Year honors. In two seasons at CSUN, Cinnamon Lister, who transferred into the program, knocked down 154 3-pointers and set a school record with 89 in her first year at CSUN.

Several Matadors entered the professional ranks overseas, including Guay, Mahlknecht, Violet Alama and Jasmine Erving. There are Matadors currently playing in Germany, Israel and in other countries throughout the world.

Flowers is 150-168 at the helm of the Matadors. He is 87-75 in Big West Conference play.

Flowers’ prowess is beginning to get noticed as he was invited to be a Court Coach for the USA Junior National Team in the summer of 2015 as the team prepared for international competition.

Before arriving at CSUN, Flowers worked as an assistant coach at UC Riverside. He helped the Highlanders qualify for the 2010 NCAA Tournament and 2009 WNIT. UCR set a new program record for Big West wins and recorded its first win ever over a nationally ranked foe with Flowers on the staff.

Prior to his stint with the Highlanders, Flowers began his college coaching career at Long Beach State where he was an assistant coach for four seasons (2004-08). While at Long Beach State, Flowers helped coach the 49ers to the 2005-06 Big West Conference Championship. Flowers’ head coaching experience began at Valley High School in Santa Ana where he served as the head coach of the girls’ basketball program (2003-04).

In addition to his coaching experience, Flowers played at UC Irvine and UCLA. As a student-athlete, Flowers was a Big West Scholar-Athlete in 1999 at UC Irvine, the 2000 recipient of the Coaches vs. Cancer Scholar-Athlete Award and in 2001, the UCLA Alumni Association Academic Award winner while a member of the Bruins basketball team.

Following his graduation with a Sociology degree at UCLA in 2001, Flowers served as the team’s academic coordinator from 2001-03 as well as a volunteer assistant coach with the Bruins.

Flowers played in 47 games (21 as a starter) in two seasons at UC Irvine (1997-98, 1998-99). His best games included a 25-point effort against Long Beach State and eight rebounds against New Mexico State in 1997-98. The following year (1998-99), Flowers tallied a career-high six assists against Cal State Fullerton and a career-high five steals against North Texas. Also, in 1998-99, Flowers shot .472 from three-point territory.

Flowers’ roots in Southern California are strong. Flowers graduated from Bellflower High School (Bellflower, Calif.) where he averaged 12.4 points and 6.5 assists in helping his team to a 21-5 record during his senior campaign. His efforts landed him a spot on the All-Suburban League first team. Flowers also played baseball where he also gained all-league honors.

Flower’s coaching strength runs through the family. Flowers is married to Tairia Flowers, the CSUN softball head coach. Tairia was a member of the United States National Team (2001-08), won a gold medal as a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic softball team in Athens (Greece) and a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games.

The couple has three children: daughters Jasmine and Trystin, and son, Jayce.

FLOWERS AT A GLANCE

Playing Experience: UCLA men’s basketball (1999-01), UC Irvine men’s basketball (1997-99).

Coaching Experience: UCLA Volunteer Assistant men’s basketball (2001-03), Head Girls Basketball Coach at Valley High School (2003-04), Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Long Beach State (2004-08), Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at UC Riverside (2008-10), Head Women’s Basketball Coach CSUN (2010-Present).

Education: Bachelor’s Degree from UCLA in Sociology, 2001.

Postseason Experience: 2009 WNIT (at UCR), 2010 NCAA Division I Tournament (at UCR), 2012 WNIT (at CSUN), 2014 NCAA Division I Tournament (at CSUN), 2015 NCAA Division I Tournament (at CSUN), 2018 NCAA Division I Tournament (at CSUN).