Report: Pepperdine to hire Virginia assistant Griff Aldrich as next head coach

Pepperdine is hiring Virginia associate head coach Griff Aldrich as its next head coach. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the news on Thursday.

According to Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, Aldrich was one of three finalists. Point Loma head coach Justin Downer and Notre Dame assistant coach Kyle Getter were also involved.

Prior to spending this season as an assistant on Ryan Odom‘s inaugural staff at Virginia, Aldrich spent seven seasons as the head coach at Longwood (2018-2025). In that span, Aldrich led the Lancers to a 127-100 (64-56) record with two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Sources: Pepperdine is finalizing deal to hire Virginia associate head coach Griff Aldrich as the school’s new basketball coach. He led Longwood to a pair of NCAA tournaments as a head coach, as he went 127-100 in seven years there. pic.twitter.com/tuDCkhCOnB

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 26, 2026

The Pepperdine basketball program is desperately in need of a shot in the arm, especially with conference powerhouse Gonzaga departing the West Coast Conference for the newly reformed Pac-12 Conference next season. The Waves are coming off a 9-23 campaign, their fifth consecutive sub-15-win season.

Pepperdine has not made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2002. Banking on a highly respected ACC assistant, who has led two teams to the Big Dance, seems like a step in the right direction for the program.

“Griff is an experienced head coach who strategically built and established Longwood as a nationally relevant mid-major program that only had one winning season in its Division I history before his arrival,” Virginia head coach Ryan Odom said in a statement following Aldrich’s hire prior to this season. “He led Longwood to multiple NCAA tournaments and averaged 21 wins per year over the last four seasons. Griff is a highly relational coach.”

Prior to taking over at Longwood, Aldrich served as UMBC‘s director of recruiting from 2016-2018. He was a member of the program for its stunning upset of No. seed 1 Virginia in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. That UMBC team was led by Odom, who led the Cavaliers to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament this season in his first year at the helm.