Tyler Velasquez enters his sixth full season coaching at Saint Martin’s in 2025-26. Velasquez has been instrumental in building a championship program since his arrival in 2019. After winning the 2022 GNAC Championship, Velasquez was promoted to Associate Head Coach on October 27, 2022. Most recently in 2024-25 season, Velasquez stepped into the role of Acting Head Coach while Saint Martin’s Head Coach Aaron Landon was on medical leave. Under challenging conditions, Velasquez guided the Saints to 19 wins, good for the sixth most wins in a season during Saint Martin’s NCAA DII era. During his time at Saint Martin’s, Velasquez has worked tirelessly to grow a last place team into a two-time GNAC champion. During the last four seasons, Saint Martin’s has won more games than any other team in the GNAC (83).
Coach Velasquez arrived at Saint Martin’s in June 2019, two weeks after Head Coach Aaron Landon was hired to lead the program. Since then, Velasquez has built a reputation as a dynamic recruiter, coach and educator. Coach Velasquez built an academic progress model that has led to stellar performance in the classroom. On the court, Saint Martin’s has become a consistent Top 25 team, nationally ranked in 31 of the last 48 polls. The Saints made history in 2024 being ranked #1 in America for the first time ever. Saint Martin’s is only the fourth program in GNAC History to win “Back to Back” Regular Season Championships (2021-22 & 2022-23).
In 2024 Saint Martin’s finished 21-8, reaching the postseason for a third consecutive season. The Saints were ranked top 25 in the nation for 11 weeks, enjoying an explosive offense that averaged over 83 points per game. In 2023 Saint Martin’s earned its second consecutive GNAC Regular Season Championship with a record of 15-3 in GNAC play, and 24-7 overall on the season. The Saints were nationally ranked for nine weeks during the season, and returned to the NCAA tournament for the third time in program history. This followed a historical campaign in 2022 that saw the Saints win the GNAC Regular Season Championship after being picked 9th in the preseason poll.
Coach Velasquez has been a key figure in developing the high-powered Saints offense that has appeared on national leaderboards in several categories. Velasquez has mentored some of the best guards in the GNAC over the past few years. Jaden Nielsen-Skinner is now second all-time in GNAC assists, Kyle Greeley was a three-time All-GNAC selection, Alex Schumacher was All-Conference in 2022, and Branden Bunn was named GNAC Newcomer of the Year in 2023. Since the return from Covid (2021-present) Saint Martin’s has averaged over 80 points per-game over four seasons.
Coach Velasquez is involved in every aspect of the program, and manages the Academic Progress of student athletes within the program. In 2023-24 the Saints had a team GPA of 3.39, a program record 10 players were named to the NABC Honors Court, and five players were Academic All-GNAC awards. The Saints finished the 2022-23 year with a team cumulative GPA of 3.38, this led all men’s sports programs at Saint Martin’s. The Saints were at the top of the GNAC with five players were named to the Academic All-GNAC Team. The Saints also led the GNAC with nine players named to the NABC Honors Court. Saint Martin’s received the NABC Academic Excellence Award for the third consecutive year. In 2021-22 the Saints finished the year with a cumulative GPA of 3.31, five players were named to the Academic All-GNAC team. The Saints received the NABC Academic Excellence award and landed eight players named to the NABC Honors court in 2021-22. The Men’s Basketball program combined with other male teams at Saint Martin’s to bring home an Academic Championship for GNAC Men’s Sports in the spring of 2022.
Prior to Saint Martin’s Velasquez spent two seasons as an assistant coach at South Puget Sound Community College. While at SPSCC, Velasquez helped lead the Clippers to an overall record of 48-13 and a pair of NWAC West Region Championships. Landon credits Velasquez as the architect of their full court press that led the entire NWAC in scoring defense in both seasons.
At SPSCC, Velasquez assisted in every aspect of the program while also working full time in student services. In addition to his coaching role at SPSCC, Velasquez also coached with Washington Supreme, one of the top AAU programs in the state.
Prior to his time at SPSCC, Velasquez worked two seasons in the NBA as a video analyst for the Portland Trailblazers
Velasquez enjoyed a successful playing career in college, starting at Cabrillo College (CA) where he won two conference titles, was named conference MVP and selected to the all-state team. Velasquez then transferred to Concordia University in 2012 where he went on to become an all-conference point guard. Velasquez won 48 games during his two years at Concordia and led the Cavaliers to their best season in program history (25-7) winning the conference championship in 2014-15.
