Fresno Pacific hires Clovis native Daniel Dyck as men's basketball coach

Fresno Pacific is betting that a coach who already knows the Sunbirds, and Fresno County, can push men’s basketball from occasional breakthrough to something more durable. Daniel Dyck, a Clovis native and Clovis High School graduate, was hired to replace C.J. Haydock after Haydock stepped down following 10 seasons at the helm.

Dyck will begin his new job June 8, giving Fresno Pacific a coach with direct ties to the program’s recent rise. Fresno Pacific Athletics said Dyck fits the university’s mission of developing student-athletes spiritually, academically and competitively, a standard that now carries real weight as the Sunbirds try to prove their best seasons were not a peak but a foundation.

The new coach is not coming in cold. Dyck joined Fresno Pacific as an assistant during the 2017-18 season, after coming from Grand Canyon University, where he served as a team manager and graduated in 2018. He later spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, where his coaching bio says he helped the Sea Lions to PacWest success.

Fresno Pacific is also handing Dyck a program with recent proof points, but not a long record of them. The university said he helped the Sunbirds through their two most successful NCAA seasons, including the program’s first NCAA West Regional appearance in 2020-21. That kind of resume explains why the school chose someone who already knows the roster, the expectations and the pressure of trying to build in Fresno.

Haydock leaves behind the most accomplished run in Fresno Pacific men’s basketball history. The Sunbirds crowned him their winningest coach with 88 wins after a 92-83 victory over Chaminade on Jan. 15, 2025. His departure closes a decade that gave Fresno Pacific a higher standard, and now Dyck inherits the harder task: turning that standard into a regular habit.

For Fresno Pacific, the first year under Dyck will be judged less by the announcement itself than by whether the Sunbirds stay on the postseason track, keep recruiting talent with Central Valley roots and continue showing that the program’s competitive rise can match the school’s broader mission.