Sam Cheung was named Head Coach of the UConn Avery Point men’s basketball team during the 2018-2019 season. Before UConn Avery Point, Coach Cheung was an assistant at the United States Coast Guard Academy and head coach for Montville High School.
Since taking over as head coach, Cheung guided the Pointers to improved win totals in each of his first two years. During the 2019-20 season, UCAP notched 16 victories for its first winning season in over a decade. That squad also hosted a Region XXI tournament game for the first time in over a decade and reached the semi finals, before losing to eventual champion CCRI.
His teams also thrived in the classroom, as the squad has posted a GPA above 3.0 every semester and earned NJCAA Team Academic Awards in 2018-19 and 2019-20. His first squad had the fifth highest GPA among all NJCAA men’s basketball programs.
As an Assistant at the Academy, Coach Cheung lead the program’s player development initiatives and helped guided the team’s offensive strategies. During his tenure there, the Academy teams won two Conference Titles and appeared in two NCAA Tournaments – a feat only accomplished three times in the school’s history. Furthermore, during the 2008 NCAA tournament run, the Academy reached the Elite 8 for the first time in school history.
As a player, Coach Cheung was a First-Team All-State point guard for Waterford High School, a First-Team All-New England Men’s Athletic Conference player for the Academy, and was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Waterford Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Away from Basketball, Coach Cheung is an Operations Research Analyst and a Project Manager for the US Coast Guard. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Operations Research and Computer Analysis from the Academy and a Master’s Degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the University of Rhode Island.
Coach Cheung currently resides in Montville with his wife Jennifer and two children Jada and Jace.
