Sam Stapleton is in his first season as an assistant coach at New Mexico in 2025-26. He joined the Lobo coaching staff after spending the previous four seasons on Eric Olen’s staff at UC San Diego.
Stapleton spent the past four years at UC San Diego, serving as an assistant coach for two years after serving as the program’s director of recruiting and director of operations. In each of his two seasons as an assistant coach with the Tritons, UCSD reach the postseason, with a CBI appearance in 2024 and the school’s first March Madness berth this past season.
Prior to coming to UCSD, Stapleton was an assistant coach for four seasons at Cal State Dominguez Hills, helping the Toros to four consecutive conference tournament appearances and coaching six all-conference honorees. From 2015-17, he was graduate assistant/video coordinator at Pepperdine, helping the Waves reach the 2016 CBI. Stapleton also has coaching experience at West LA Community College and the LA Rockfish AAU program.
Stapleton played collegiately at Occidental College, where he graduated in 2013. As starting point guard for the Tigers, he finished his senior season ranking third in the conference in assists and fifth in steals. Stapleton earned his graduate degree from Pepperdine in 2017.
“Sam is going to oversee recruiting and roster building,” said Olen. “He is a terrific evaluator and a tireless worker. His ability to identify undervalued prospects and project them into different roles within our structure will help us put together teams that have complementary skillsets. In addition to roster construction, Sam will support the defensive side of the ball where his energy and attention to detail are high level. Lobo fans will love his passion and commitment.”