Porterville College interim Dean of Instruction Joe Cascio has announced the hiring of former Moorpark College men's basketball head coach Gerred Link as PC's new interim athletic director. Link replaces Cascio who formerly held the position.
Link comes to Porterville after serving as head coach of the men's basketball program at Moorpark College for the past six years (2014-19).
"I would like to thank Dr. Claudia Habib for the opportunity to work at Porterville College," said Link. "She is a great leader and I am excited to grow under her mentorship. The staff and faculty have been overly nice and supportive through this change, especially my predecessor Joe Cascio. Without him, this transition would be much more difficult."
Link was set to open up the current 2019-20 season with Raiders basketball team, but saw an opportunity at PC he couldn't pass up.
"The idea of making the change from coach to athletic director is what really drew me to the position," he said. "It had always been a dream of mine to be an athletic director and jobs in the field are hard to come by."
"Moorpark College gave me the opportunity to be a head coach and grow professionally and personally, he added. "I will forever be in debt to the student-athletes who played for me there. Their support and work ethic inspired me every day."
Cascio was impressed with Link early in the hiring process and is confident in his abilities to lead the department going forward.
"During his initial interview, it was clear that Gerred possessed not only the leadership skills required for this job, but also a genuine understanding of the role of athletics in the community college environment," said Cascio. "He is committed to student-athlete academic success and the overall promotion of the athletic department. Gerred's background as a head basketball coach at a CCCAA institution has given him the foundation for leading an entire athletic department."
Link himself is a former CCCAA student-athlete, having played a season of basketball and tennis at Grossmont College as well as a year of baseball at Los Angeles Pierce College. The Los Angeles native was a high school standout at Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills.
Prior to his head coaching job at Moorpark, Link served as an assistant men's basketball coach at UC San Diego for three years (2012-2014). He was also an assistant coach at his alma mater Sonoma State University from 2009-2011 following a two-year playing career.
Link, who has now been in the position officially for a little over a month, is enjoying his time at PC and looks forward to what the future holds at the college.
"It is kind of surreal to be the AD here at Porterville mainly because of the amount of support I have received," Link said. "Everyone has been very nice while I get my feet underneath me. No doubt there will be a learning curve in this new role but I am excited and ready to get to work."
"My initial goal is to make sure that all the systems continue to run as they did prior to my arrival," he added. "Ensuring the survival of the policies in place is important. Hopefully as I get more comfortable as the athletic director, I can have a positive impact on the college and the students we serve."