After coaching the San Marcos boys basketball team to a CIF-Southern Section championship two years ago, Landon Boucher aspired to take the next step and move to the college level.
He joined John Moore’s staff at Westmont College and served as an assistant for the man he played under at the school from 2010 to 2012.
Moore on Friday announced he was stepping down as head coach after 27 years, and Boucher was named to replace him by Westmont Athletic Director Dave Odell.
“Having been in and around Westmont basketball for almost 40 years, I had a strong sense of what we were looking for in a head coach,” Odell said. “In a way, Coach Boucher had an 11-year interview for this job. The last few years, it became quite clear as he made an immediate impact helping recruit many of this year’s GSAC championship team, scouting and developing winning game plans. Landon is ready for the next challenge.”
Boucher becomes the 16th head coach in the history of the program, which began 80 years ago in 1940.
Boucher played for Coach Moore during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons and finished his Warrior career as a 40.7% 3-point shooter.
“I want to thank the administration – Gayle Beebe, Mark Sargent and Dave Odell – for trusting in me to lead this program,” Boucher said. “Westmont changed me when I was a student, which is why I feel so honored to have coached at Westmont the past two years, and now moving forward.
“I believe in what we are doing on the court as a basketball team. However, I truly believe in what the institution is doing because I am a product of it. I gave my life to Christ near the end of my time at Westmont as a player and a student. Westmont impacted me more as a person than a basketball player. That is why I am such a big believer in what we are doing at Westmont.”
Boucher replaced Odell as the head boys basketball coach at San Marcos after serving as an assistant.
“I’ve known Landon since before he enrolled at Westmont as a student-athlete,” Odell said. “I was fortunate enough to coach with him for a few years. I’ve always been struck by his ability to relate to and teach a diverse group of athletes.”
Moore, the program’s longest tenured and winningest coach, is confident in his successor being able to fill his shoes.
“He is one of our guys,” Moore said of Boucher. “I would want whoever took over after I was done to be one of our guys.
“I would not have hired Landon as an assistant if I did not think he had great character,” Moore continued. “When I hired Landon, I felt like our program was going to be better because Landon was going to be a part of it. He is very good at in-game adjustments and he is also a very good practice coach. He has a strong understanding of the game and communicates things in a way that is crisp, concise and to the point. I think players appreciate that.”
Like his predecessor, Boucher played his junior and senior seasons at Westmont. He played his first two college seasons for David Abderheiden at Chemeketa College in Salem, Ore.
“The day after my playing career ended at Westmont, I was offered the head boys’ basketball coaching job at what was then called Providence Hall (now Providence School),” Boucher recalled. “That is where I developed much of my coaching philosophy, influenced by Coach Abderheiden and Coach Moore.”
While at Providence, Boucher led the Patriots to their most wins in a single season in school history and their first trip to the quarterfinals of the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.
The following year, Boucher joined Odell at San Marcos as the junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant. He took over the varsity program in the fall of 2014 and produced a record of 89-36 over the next four years.
In the 2017-18 season, Boucher led the Royals to the most wins in a single season (27), a Channel League title and the school’s first ever CIF-SS championship. They beat second-seeded Muir in the semifinals and routed Riverside Poly in the final, 67-47.
The qualities that varsity team possessed were amazing. It was a tight-knit group. The players knew their roles and worked incredibly well together.
“I felt like we had achieved everything we had set out for and I wanted to move on to collegiate basketball,” said Boucher. “Those guys I had poured my life into for four years were graduating. Instead of starting over, I felt like God was calling me to the college level.”
In his two seasons as a Westmont assistant coach, he has helped lead the Warriors to consecutive NAIA National Tournament appearances and a 2019-20 Golden State Athletic Conference regular season championship. The conference title was Westmont’s first since 2012-13.
“I have appreciated the amount of time John Moore has dedicated to me, especially in the last two years,” Boucher said. “He has also shown me what it is like to be a man of God in a leadership role – coaching for wins, but also coaching for Christ.
“Coach Moore has done a phenomenal job of leading this program to a really high level. I hope to continue to carry this program in the way that he led.”
Boucher will have 12 of the 14 rostered players from last season, including four starters.
“I am tremendously proud of the guys we are returning in the program,” Boucher said. “I am thrilled to coach my first season with this group of guys.”
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.