Staff Directory

CJ Killin

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:

CJ Killin enters his fourth season as assistant coach to the men's basketball team in 2026-27.

Killin has spent the past three seasons on the Matador coaching staff, helping the program post 61 total victories. This past season, Killin was selected to the 2026 Silver Waves Media 100 Most Impactful Mid Major Assistants list.

The Matadors are coming off a second consecutive 20-win season and the program's first Big West tournament final appearance in 2025-26. CSUN would finish tied for third place in the Big West standings with a 12-8 conference record while the Matadors knocked off UC San Diego in the second round of the Big West Championship.

In 2024-25, Killin helped the Matadors win 22 games, tying the program record for the most victories in a season. Other highlights on the season included CSUN recording its most wins ever in Big West play (14) and notching its most road wins in school history (10). CSUN would also break the all-time home attendance record. For his efforts, Killin was invited to participate in the 2025 Silver Waves Media Elite 75 Power Lunch at the Final Four, a coaching consortium for some of the top assistant coaches in the NCAA.

In his first season at CSUN, Killin was part of a record setting year in the San Fernando Valley. The Matadors won 19 games, the most ever by a first-year coaching staff. Also, the 19 wins were the most by the CSUN program since the 2007-08 season. The twelve-win improvement in the win column at CSUN ranked as the top in the Big West, and among tops in the entire NCAA.

Among the highlights of the season were a victory at historic Pauley Pavilion, defeating the UCLA Bruins in non-conference action. To cap things off, the Matadors won a game in the Big West tournament for the first time in a decade when they defeated UC Santa Barbara in an overtime classic.

For his efforts, Killin was recognized by Silver Waves Media as one of the 2024-100 Rising Stars in Men's Mid-Major Basketball.

Killin came to CSUN after a successful three-year stint as associate head coach at Salt Lake Community College. In three seasons, SLCC posted an impressive 84-12 record, highlighted by a 35-2 season and a National Championship appearance in 2022. Killin oversaw a Bruin offense that finished first in scoring in the NJCAA at 106.6 points per game during the 2021-22 season.

Along with his coaching duties at SLCC, Killin served as a coach for the Utah Prospects AAU organization, one of the top programs on the Nike EYBL circuit.

Killin previously spent the 2019-20 season at Portland State where he oversaw the team's offensive rebounding efforts, which finished fourth-best in the nation. Prior to PSU, he was an assistant coach at Idaho State in 2018-19. He also served as an assistant at Odessa College (TX) where he helped the Wranglers win an outright league championship.

Killin spent two seasons as well at New Mexico Junior College, a season at NAIA Peru State College where he helped the program to their most wins in over a decade, and another season at Central Community College, coaching that program to the NJCAA D2 Final Four.

A native Nebraskan, Killin began his coaching career at his alma mater Nebraska-Kearney in 2012-13 as a volunteer assistant coach.