At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sacramento State men’s assistant basketball coach Zach Chappell had just finished his sophomore season playing for San Jose State.
After playing 60 games for the Spartans, the uncertainty of the virus led him back home to Sacramento, the city where his love for basketball had begun and his love for his grandmother could flourish.
“My grandmother and I are really close,” Chappell said. “Just wanting to be with her as she gets older and, you know, just be there for her, get her food when she needs it, help her get to wherever she needs to go. That was a huge factor.”
Born and raised in Sacramento, Chappell developed a connection to the city through basketball, a link that drove him to make a name for himself in its community.
“It started with the Kings,” Chappell said. “Seeing the great basketball figures in the city and how the city embraced them, made me want to be a part of it.”
Chappell’s basketball journey began at a young age. He credits his older brothers for instilling a desire to be the best player he could and inspiring him to do the same for the younger players coming up in Sacramento.
“The community, it’s really a pipeline,” Chappell said. “Everybody just learns from the older guys and teaches the younger guys. It’s a great community and it’s slept on.”
Chappell attended Sacramento’s Capital Christian High School, where his stellar play on the basketball court earned him a First Team All-Metro selection his senior year.
Zach. Chappell.
Just greatness.
Chappell wins it for the Hornets with a game-winning layup. @SacHornetsMBB defeats @LBSUMBB 76-74 and gets back to .500.
Chappell finished with 25 points and 5 rebounds.
Huge win for @CoachDPatrick pic.twitter.com/cWI7jO6hXE
— Jordan Latimore (@jordanlatimore7) December 11, 2022
Chappell’s time at Sac State concluded in a senior season in which he led the Hornets in scoring with an average of 13.5 points per game, earning him the nickname ‘Zachramento.’ After he graduated, Chappell still had dreams of competing at the next level, leading him to a professional career in Germany’s ProA league.
Chappell played 27 games for Paderborn, averaging nine points per game on 45% shooting from the field before receiving an offer from Sacramento State head coach Michael Czepil to coach at his alma mater.
“I didn’t want to get into [college] coaching,” Chappell said. “I wanted to be on the youth side and help guys get to college. That’s what I thought my passion was, but when I had breakfast with coach Czepil and he kind of broke everything down, I decided to take this route.”
Czepil said he was sure that a spot on Sac State’s coaching staff would be a perfect fit for Chappell because the two had formed a strong relationship as player and coach.
“I did recognize early on that as a player, he would be a good coach,” Czepil said. “His heart is in the right place and he’s got a good temperament for it.”
Chappell said he has always had a desire to give back to the community that played such a big role in shaping who he is today, a desire that fueled him to found Pathway Athletics.
Between his pro career in Germany and the start of his coaching journey, Chappell founded Pathway, a youth basketball academy that teaches core values and life skills through sport.
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Chappell’s relationship to his former trainer and close friend Marcus Kirkland was instrumental in his decision to start his own community organization. Kirkland is a figurehead in Sacramento’s basketball community and hosts basketball camps for the city’s youth.
“Every time I had a free camp, Zach has either been in the camp or spoken at the camp,” Kirkland said. “He’s becoming his own person and I think it’s good for the community. The sky’s the limit for Zach.”
Chappell said the main goal of his organization is to create a ripple effect in the community and influence future generations to find a way to give back.
“I’m huge in my faith. It’s everything to me,” Chappell said. “Doing something where I can incorporate that, my love for basketball and my love for the community was where Pathway was born.”
Pathway had to be temporarily put to the side, as Chappell is trying to find his footing as a first-year college basketball coach, but his desire to expand the organization going forward remains strong.
“The goal is to eventually have camps,” Chappell said. “The goal is to have levels where we have college guys helping the high school guys who are helping the middle and elementary schoolers. It’s supposed to trickle down.”
For now, Chappell is looking to leave his mark on Hornet basketball, this time from the sidelines, and use his experiences as a Sac State alum to guide his players to success.
“I really just want to build upon the basketball community in Sacramento,” Chappell said. “I want to teach the kids growing up that it’s not all about basketball and there are other ways that sports can help them.”
