Gibson Kirk Arnold is an American college basketball player and coach. He currently works in the NBA in the front office of the Boston Celtics.
Early life and education
Arnold was born in 1968, when his father Frank Arnold was an assistant coach at the University of Oregon. As Frank Arnold later became an assistant at UCLA and was head coach at BYU and Hawaii, Gib Arnold grew up in the Los Angeles, Provo, Utah, and Honolulu, Hawaii areas. Arnold graduated from Punahou School in 1987, where he was a prep All-American and Hawaii's high school Gatorade Player of the Year. Initially committed to Hawaii, Arnold first attended Arizona State University instead to follow his father, who became assistant coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils. An honor student as a freshman, Arnold left Arizona State to go on a two-year LDS mission to Munich, Germany. In 1990, Arnold enrolled in Dixie State College, a junior college in St. George, Utah and played his first year of college basketball there. Arnold transferred to UC San Diego in 1991, averaging 3.6 points in 20 games as a sophomore. Retiring from basketball, Arnold transferred to Brigham Young University and graduated in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. Gib is currently in the process of completing his masters degree in clinical psychology, at Harvard University, in Cambridge.
Coaching career
Assistant coach and junior college head coach (1994–2010)
Arnold began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Provo High School in 1994. In the 1995–96 season, Arnold moved up to the junior college level as assistant coach at Utah Valley State College. The following season, Arnold got his first NCAA Division I coaching job as assistant coach at Loyola Marymount. In the 1998–99 season, Arnold was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt under Jan van Breda Kolff. In 1999, Arnold followed van Breda Kolff to Pepperdine and remained on staff under Paul Westphal from 2001 to 2003. At Pepperdine, Arnold specialized in coaching defense and recruiting. From 2003 to 2005, Arnold served as the head coach at the College of Southern Idaho, a junior college in Twin Falls, Idaho where he posted a 57-14 record. On April 6, 2005, Arnold became an assistant coach at USC under Tim Floyd and remained for the 2009–10 season under new head coach Kevin O'Neill. At USC, Arnold was named as one of the top 25 recruiters in the country by Rivals.com and one of the top 10 assistant coaches in the country by Athlon Sports magazine. Among players he coached at USC included first-round NBA draft picks DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson, OJ Mayo, and Nikola Vucevic.
Hawaii (2010–2014)
On March 20, 2010, the University of Hawaii at Manoa named Arnold the 19th head coach of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball. Having inherited a program that had three straight losing seasons, Arnold led Hawaii to a 19–13 record and CIT appearance in his first season. Hawaii made the 2013 CIT and had its best record under Arnold at 20–11 in 2013–14, their first 20 win season in over a decade. Arnold was the quickest Coach Hawaii history to reach 50 wins. His team excelled not only on the court but in the classroom achieving the highest team GPA in school history and scoring a perfect 1000 APR on two occasions during his tenure. On March 7, 2014, during a game at UC Santa Barbara, a fan of the home team ran on the court to confront Arnold after a Hawaii player was whistled for an intentional foul. Hawaii players restrained the fan, who was later arrested.
NCAA violations
On October 28, 2014, Hawaii relieved Arnold "without cause" and assistant coach Bradyn Akana of their duties during the initial stages of an NCAA investigation. Hawaii announced self-imposed penalties on May 15, 2015 as a result of seven alleged Level I or Level II NCAA violations and vacated 36 wins in which back up center Davis Rozitis competed in the previous two seasons, due to what Hawaii determined to be improper benefits from a booster. Assistant Coach Brandyn Akana was found to have altered an I20 Student Visa form and given an iPad to a student athlete as a Christmas gift. The NCAA investigation showed that Arnold had no knowledge of the violations. The NCAA determined that back up center and Hawaii Scholar Athlete of the Year Davis Rozitis borrowed a car of an acquaintance to move his belongings into his dorm. NCAA records show that Rozitis borrowed the car from the booster's girlfriend as the booster was on the mainland. At first the University of Hawaii compliance believed that the man in question was not a booster and no violation had occurred. Later it was found out he attended an athletic banquet and buying a ticket to the event 2 years prior triggered booster status. Hawaii reduced scholarships and practice time, placed itself on one-year probation, and paid a $10,000 fine. On December 23, 2015, the NCAA announced the results of its investigation, which cleared Arnold of any Level I violations. The NCAA dismissed or lessened every allegation against Arnold Hawaii reached a $700,000 settlement with Arnold on October 9, 2015.
NBA scout
In 2015, Arnold became a scout for the Boston Celtics.
Founder and CEO
In 2016, Gib founded WorldTourSports, LLC. Combining his passion for sports, travel and philanthropy. Gib came up with the mantra "Make the World Your Playing Field." WorldTourSports specializes in sports travel and destination sporting events around the globe. In 2019, Gib started MindBodySoulTraining. With his background in sports psychology and athletic training, Arnold's philosophy is that the balanced training of ones' mind, body, and soul allows the athlete to become their best self.
Personal life
Gib Arnold has four sisters. Gib has five children with his former spouse. As a certified USA Triathlon coach, Gib has completed several Ironman triathlons as well as completing the Boston Marathon in 2019.
