PEPPERDINE ATHLETICS Welcomes Exciting New Leadership to Malibu
Tanner Gardner (pictured above), the new director of athletics, began his tenure on June 1, bringing to Pepperdine an impressive background in raising collegiate sports to the next financial and reputational level. In his previous role as deputy athletic director for external affairs at Rice University, Gardner spearheaded a list of remarkable strategic partnership developments and revenue growth achievements. Before his 10 years of service at Rice, Gardner served as a senior staff project manager for Stanford University, where he had been a star of the wrestling team as a student and earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree prior to receiving an MBA at Harvard Business School.
Gardner has been leading three new coaches for the Waves. The former assistant coach of men’s basketball for Grand Canyon University, Ed Schilling, became the head coach of the Pepperdine team in April. During his first season at Grand Canyon, Schilling’s team achieved its first conference title, and in 2023 and 2024 it claimed the Western Athletic Conference title. While previously serving as assistant coach for four years at the University of California, Los Angeles, nine of Schilling’s players were sent to the NBA.
Katie Faulkner, head coach of the women’s basketball team, also arrived in April. Faulkner spent the previous four years as an assistant coach at Washington University, where she helped lead the women to a 12-game improvement and their first postseason appearance in six years. Before her position in Washington, Faulkner served as an assistant coach for Oregon State University, where she played a significant role in guiding the team to a 118-37 five-year stretch and four NCAA tournament appearances. As a student-athlete at the University of Montana, she was considered one of best players in the school’s history.
In mid-June, Tyler LaTorre began his tenure as the head coach of the baseball program. LaTorre brings nearly 20 years of baseball coaching experience to Pepperdine. He most recently spent two years as head coach at Westmont College, where he led the team to a 2023 win of the NAIA World Series Championship and was named Coach of the Year by four different organizations. LaTorre spent the prior three years as pitching and catching coach and recruiting coordinator at California State University, Sacramento, where he was instrumental in developing and producing three pitchers who signed professional baseball contracts. LaTorre was also a professional player with both the Milwaukee Brewers’ and San Francisco Giants’ minor league teams.
The Pepperdine community has great confidence that each member of its new athletics leadership will help the Waves compete even more successfully, and, more importantly, will work to guide the personal growth and leadership development of each student-athlete at the University.
