Danny Yoshikawa, former NCAA and professional basketball coach, and West Valley College alumnus (student-athlete and coach), returned to lead the men’s basketball program in late July, 2019. Four short seasons later, Yoshikawa became just the 5th coach in California state history to take his team to a state championship and finish the year undefeated (Jerry Tarkanian, Vance Walburg, Jim Newman, and Dieter Horton).  During those same four seasons, his teams have also won three conference championships, three NorCal championships and advanced to the 3C2A State Championship Tournament on three separate occasions, twice ending the season in the California state championship game. From those four teams, 18 players received scholarships to play at four-year NCAA institutions. In 2025, his team received the California State Scholar Team award as his teams consistently dominate with excellence in the classroom as well as on the court.

 

In 2019, despite being hired very late in the summer and having one of the youngest teams in the state, Yoshikawa’s impact was immediate and profound as the program captured its first conference championship in 14 years. In just his second season (2021-22), Yoshikawa guided the Vikings to a second-consecutive Coast Conference championship (undefeated in conference for the 2nd time in school history) and a NorCal title en route to the California state championship game. Yoshikawa earned his second-straight Coach of the Year award (he has achieved seven total at West Valley College as a head coach) as seven players from that team received NCAA scholarships. In his 3rd year, after losing 99% of the team, Yoshikawa quickly recruited another class of talented players to build for the future in Saratoga. That season, the young Vikings went 28-5, captured the NorCal championship and returned to the 3C2A state tournament.  That special group of players, along with some key additions, returned the following year to do the unthinkable: going 33-0, en route to West Valley's first state championship, becoming only the 5th team in 3C2A history to do so.

 

Before returning to his alma mater, Coach Yoshikawa was the top assistant at Saint Mary's College, a perennial Top 25 Division 1 program. In his last season in Moraga, the Gaels knocked off nationally #1-ranked Gonzaga in the 2019 West Coast Conference championship tournament, claiming the WCC title and a berth in the NCAA tournament. In his four years in Moraga, the Gaels won more games than at any other four-year period in the program’s storied history. Yoshikawa helped the Gaels to a WCC championship and sweep of Gonzaga in 2016, an NCAA berth and the round of 32 in 2017, a 30-win campaign in 2018 (the most in the program’s history) and the 2019 win over #1 Gonzaga for the WCC championship and NCAA berth. In those four short years, Yoshikawa helped develop eleven players that are currently playing professionally. For his career, Yoshikawa has coached more than 45 players who went on to play at the professional level, many of whom started at West Valley College.

After leaving West Valley College in 2007, Yoshikawa spent the next fifteen years coaching in both the NCAA Division 1 and professional ranks. Coach Yosh left Saratoga for UC Santa Barbara and immediately catapulted the Gauchos to a Big West Conference championship and NIT berth.  Later, Yoshikawa played a pivotal role in resurrecting the University of San Francisco. During his time on the Hilltop as the Associate Head Coach, Yoshikawa asserted himself as one of the top recruiters of northern California players and as one of the first coaches to break into international recruiting in Europe. With Yoshikawa’s assistance, the Dons landed multiple players from northern California as well as France, Senegal, Germany, Serbia, and the Czech Republic. In a short time, the Dons transformed into a three-year, consecutive 20-win program with multiple post-season tournament bids, beating top-rated Gonzaga three years in a row. Yoshikawa then left the country for a two-year stint as a professional head coach overseas. In 2015, Yoshikawa was recruited to return to the Bay Area at Saint Mary’s College, a prestigious, nationally ranked, top-25 NCAA program. 

 

A standout point guard from Lincoln High School and an All-CCS Player, the San Jose native played for Hall of Fame coach Bob Burton at West Valley College in the 1990’s. The tough-minded guard led the Vikings to 29 wins and an 3C2A State Championship Tournament appearance before being recruited to UC Davis. There, he led the Aggies to consecutive conference championships and two NCAA tournaments. He was named to the all-conference team three times in his career and was awarded the conference Player of the Year as a senior. Yoshikawa won 100 games as a player over his four years of playing.

 

Upon graduation and while receiving his Master's degree, he joined Burton’s staff at West Valley as an assistant coach. He later inherited the storied program and, as the Vikings’ rookie head coach in his first stint, recorded a 144-47 record (75%) over five seasons, playing in four NorCal Championships, winning three conference championships, advancing to the state championship tourney in back-to-back years, and making it to the state championship game in 2006.

 

Yoshikawa graduated from UC Davis with two Bachelor’s degrees - one in International Relations and the other in Japanese. He earned his Master’s of Science in Kinesiology from San José State University, where he focused on motor learning and sport psychology. Yoshikawa began recruiting internationally through his deep love of travel. So far, he has visited more than 65 countries and speaks three languages. He lives in San Jose with his son, Calvin, and daughter, Abigail.