UC San Diego

A San Diego area native, Steven Aldridge is in his fourth season as an assistant coach at UC San Diego. During his tenure, the Tritons have won more than 70 games, including a program-record 30-win season in 2024-25 that brought a Big West regular-season title, a Big West Tournament championship, and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, where the Tritons took #6 Michigan to the wire in the first round. That season, UC San Diego boasted one of the top defenses in college basketball and ranked second nationally in scoring margin, behind only Duke. In 2025-26, with no returning starters and 10 newcomers, the Tritons went 23-11 and won the ESPN Events Invitational.

Prior to returning home, Aldridge spent two seasons on staff at the University of North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks doubled their win total, improved 75 spots in the KenPom rankings, and reached the quarterfinals of the Summit League Tournament during his time there.

Before North Dakota, Aldridge served two seasons as a graduate assistant at Eastern Washington. There, he was part of a 39-16 run that included two conference championships and an NCAA Tournament berth in 2021, where the Eagles faced No. 3 seed Kansas in the opening round.

Prior to EWU, Aldridge spent three seasons at Western Colorado University from 2016-19. As an assistant, he helped guide the Mountaineers back to the RMAC Tournament for the first time since his own playing days. As a player at Western, he was a two-year captain and led the team in assists.

He also returned to his roots at San Diego City College from 2013-15, where he had earned Pacific Coast All-Conference honors as a player. As an assistant coach there, he helped the Knights to a conference championship and a 41-19 record over two seasons.

Aldridge was invited to the Rising Stars Coaches Luncheon hosted by Silver Waves Media at the 2025 NCAA Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. Throughout his career, he has consistently helped build winning teams and formed lasting connections with his student-athletes on and off the court.