Portland State Head Basketball Coach Barret Peery has done nothing but deliver since taking over the Viking program in April of 2017.
He made a promise at his opening press conference: “Our commitment is this: We want to give the best product we can possibly give. We want to give our fans a team that they can put their arms around, follow them, love them and care about them. We want to give a team that will be easy to cheer for.”
The exciting, up-tempo, full-court pressure game that Peery promised has now thrilled Viking fans for three seasons. The passion of his players and team is engaging. And the results have been thrilling. Portland State Basketball has become a hot commodity in the city of Portland as it now heats up winter nights in the shiny, new Viking Pavilion. It has also become a program to watch in the Big Sky Conference as the Vikings expect to be contenders for years to come under Peery’s leadership.
In his first three seasons, Peery's teams have won 54 games, averaging 18 wins. That matches former coach Ken Bone for the most wins in the first three seasons of a PSU coaching career. His winning percentage (54-44, .551) ranks second among the six Viking head coaches of the Big Sky Conference era.
This past season, Peery directed the Vikings to their first six-game winning streak in 11 seasons. He has now led the team to two straight fourth-place finishes in the Big Sky - their best placings since being third in 2011-12. In February, Peery led the Vikings to an Idaho State-Weber State road trip sweep for the first time since 2006. The Vikings have won at Weber State in back-to-back years for the first time since joining the Big Sky.
Junior guard Holland Woods became the first Viking to be a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection since 2011-12. He set three new school records and rose to fifth on the Portland State all-time scoring list. Senior center Sal Nuhu earned honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference after leading the league in blocked shots (2.2 per game) for the second year in a row.
Peery led Portland State to 20 wins in 2017-18 - the most ever by a first-year Viking coach and the most in 10 seasons at PSU - without playing a game on campus. The Vikings had “home” games at nearby Lewis and Clark College and played a total of 21 games on the road or at neutral sites.
The Vikings managed the best pre-conference record in school history (10-3), best road record ever (10-6), beat two Pac-12 teams in the same season for the first time ever, and went 7-2 in games against teams from other Division I conferences in the west. At season’s end, Portland State received a bid to the CollegeInsider.com post-season tournament.
In 2018-19, Peery had to incorporate eight new players to his roster. The result was a bit of a slow start, but once the Vikings got going in conference play, they were tough to beat. PSU’s 11-9 league record was the best in five seasons and its fourth-place finish was the best since 2011-12. In addition, the Vikings swept eventual league champion Montana and were the hottest team in the Big Sky in the final month, winning seven of its last eight games.
Woods was named second team All-Big Sky Conference.
Just as exciting was the opening of the fabulous, new $52 million Viking Pavilion arena. The Pavilion drew rave reviews from around Portland and around the league, giving Portland State a legitimate Division I home arena for the first time and perhaps the finest facility in the Big Sky Conference. The results were there; Portland State had its best home attendance in 16 years.
In two seasons in the Viking Pavilion, PSU has compiled a 23-7 record (.767).
BACKGROUND
Peery was named Portland State’s new men’s basketball coach on April 10, 2017. He became Portland State’s 13th head coach in its 57-year history, and the sixth since Portland State joined the Big Sky Conference in 1996-97.
“Our expectations for Viking basketball are second to none,” he said at the time. “We feel like we can win championships on the court with great young men who will have an opportunity to graduate from an outstanding university. We know we can put a product on the floor that the city of Portland will want to embrace and be a part of.”
Prior to coming to Portland State, Peery was the Associate Head Coach at Santa Clara. He assisted first-year Head Coach Herb Sendek in the revival of the Broncos program as it had its first winning season in four years and placed fourth in the West Coast Conference.
While Peery’s first-year success on the Park Blocks was thrilling, and to some even a little unexpected, who could have been more ready for the challenge?
Peery came to Portland State after two decades of collegiate coaching. One of those previous seasons was as a Viking basketball assistant coach (2002-03).
In addition to Portland State, Peery has been an assistant coach at high-profile programs like Utah and Arizona State, at a Big Sky school; his alma mater Southern Utah, and comes from Santa Clara where he was the Associate Head Coach. He has worked with Head Coaches Bill Evans (Southern Utah), Jim Boylen (Utah) and Herb Sendek (Arizona State, Santa Clara) at the Division I level, as well as Heath Schroyer at Portland State.
“My family and I are ecstatic about the opportunity to be back in Portland and be a part of the Portland State Vikings,” Peery said. “We realize this is an exciting time at PSU with the construction of the Viking Pavilion as well as the new leadership of Valerie Cleary and her staff.”
Although this is his first Division I head coaching position, Peery had two head coaching stints to great acclaim at the junior college level. He compiled a career record of 178-30 in six seasons at College of Southern Idaho (2002-05, 85-19) and Indian Hills (IA) Community College (2011-14, 93-11). In 2014, Indiana Hills was the NJCAA runner-up, going 34-3 and winning regional and district tiles.
Peery’s teams routinely were among the top scoring in the nation. His 2012-13 squad averaged 97.9 points per game. In three seasons at Indian Hills, his teams went 60-1 at home and reached the number one ranking in the nation.
At CSI, Peery led his team to two national tournaments in three seasons and twice led the nation in scoring. The Golden Eagles placed fourth in the nation in 2006-07. Peery was the Scenic West Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2007-08 after leading his team to a third straight SWAC title. CSI was ranked number one in the nation for the last four weeks of the regular season.
Peery was an assistant for two seasons at CSI prior to taking over as Head Coach.
In his time as an assistant at Southern Utah (1998-2002), Peery helped lead the program to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and a 25-6 record.
He also had early coaching stints at Utah Valley and Snow College.
Peery played collegiate basketball at Snow and Southern Utah. He helped lead the Thunderbirds to two conference championships while earning Academic All-League honors and being a team co-captain. Peery was an All-Region and All-State player at Payson High School.
Peery and his wife, Tracy, have four children: daughter, Kennedy and sons, Crew, Whitton and Meyer.
THE BARRET PEERY FILE
4th year at Portland State
Hometown: Payson, Utah
Alma Mater: Southern Utah, 1996, BS Physical Education, Minor: Communications
Playing Career: Snow College, 1991-93; Southern Utah, 1993-95
Date of Birth: April 3, 1971
Family: Wife, Tracy; daughter Kennedy (17), sons Crew (13), Whitton (9), Meyer (6)
COACHING EXPERIENCE
2017-21 Portland State, Head Coach (63-57)
2016-17 Santa Clara, Associate Head Coach
2014-15 Arizona State, Assistant Coach
2011-14 Indian Hills CC (IA), Head Coach (93-11)
2008-11 Utah, Assistant Coach
2003-08 College of Southern Idaho, Head Coach (2005-08, 85-19), Assistant Coach (2003-05)
2002-03 Portland State, Assistant Coach
1998-02 Southern Utah, Assistant Coach
1997-98 Utah Valley, Assistant Coach
1996-97 Snow College, Assistant Coach
1995-96 Southern Utah, Graduate Assistant Coach
