Molina leaves Mesa for Chapman

Mike Molina gave the Costa Mesa High boys’ basketball team August off. Then on Monday, that all changed.

Molina sent a text to his players about a mandatory meeting in the team room. Mason Tufuga, an incoming senior, said he figured Molina wanted to check up on the team after the summer program.

Molina set up the last-minute gathering at night to inform Tufuga and the rest of the team that he was stepping down. After two seasons in charge of the Mustangs, Molina said he is leaving his alma mater to pursue his dream of coaching in college.

Molina said he has accepted an assistant men’s basketball coaching job at Chapman University, where he will also work as an athletic facilities coordinator. Molina is the second head coach in two years to leave the Mustangs to become an assistant at Chapman, an NCAA Division III program.

“It was extremely tough,” Molina said of the decision. “You leave a school that you deeply care about and you leave a program that you worked hard to make better, but it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, coach in college. I just didn’t think it was going to happen so fast.”

Molina, 24, said the opportunity to chase his dream began a couple of weeks ago. Dan Krikorian, an assistant at Chapman, told Molina about the opening with the Panthers, who are coming off their first regular-season Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title.

Krikorian is the same coach Molina took over for at Costa Mesa before the 2013-14 season. As the interim coach in his debut season, Molina wound up leading the Mustangs to a 19-9 overall record, matching Costa Mesa’s single-season record win total. For the first time since the 2008-09 season, the Mustangs placed second in the Orange Coast League, finishing 7-3, and they claimed the Battle for the Bell rivalry against Estancia for a third straight season.

The interim label came off before Molina’s second and final season, and there was a drop off. The Mustangs went 9-18, 2-8 in league, tying them for last place with the Eagles. Despite the losing campaign, Costa Mesa qualified for the CIF Southern Section Division 4AA playoffs for the second time under Molina.

With Tufuga, Nabeel Salameh, Calvin Ko and Chris Calderon returning as starters this winter season, Tufuga said there was optimism at Costa Mesa. This season would’ve marked Molina’s fourth coaching at the school, his first he spent it as the freshman coach.

“He’s known most of the guys and coached them since their freshmen year,” said Tufuga, who averaged 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks per game last season, earning him first-team All-Orange Coast League and Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team honors. “He was so personable. He just cared about everyone and he was a big part of the community. He did so much outside of basketball to help us.

“I was surprised [he was leaving], but I completely understand the decision. I’m really excited for him. This is what he’s wanted. He’s going to live his dream as a college coach. I don’t blame him. I’m just bummed he can’t coach us again.”

As of now, Costa Mesa is without a coach. Tufuga said the team planned to start its conditioning program in early September.

Jacob Haley, the school’s principal, said he expects the boys’ basketball opening to go up internally in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District in the next couple of days. With Costa Mesa pretty much done with hiring teachers for the fall, Haley said Molina’s replacement could be someone at Costa Mesa, someone in the school district, or a walk-on coach.

Molina said he understands that the transition won’t be easy for the players.

“I was in their shoes four times,” said Molina, who played for four coaches in as many years before graduating from Costa Mesa in 2009. “I called for a mandatory meeting to make sure they heard the news through me first. I remember hearing about our coach leaving almost every year through a buddy or through the [Daily] Pilot, and it was always harder to hear it from someone else or read it in the paper.

“My goal was to coach at the next level, and if I was going to be moving, it would be somewhere higher, not for another high school job. When the opportunity to coach in college presented itself, I had to take it.”