The Water Spill

In 2001, Kaleb Canales walked into a gym at UT Arlington for a pickup game. He was a kinesiology student from Laredo, Texas. Hadn't played college ball. Nobody recruited him. He just liked basketball.

A young assistant named Scott Cross invited him to watch practice. Someone spilled water on the court. Canales grabbed a towel and cleaned it up before anyone asked. Cross made him a student assistant the next day.

Twenty-five years later, Canales is the head coach at Weber State. Damian Lillard — the school's most famous alum, now its GM — hired him. Canales ran the Portland Trail Blazers for 23 games as interim head coach in 2012. First Mexican-American head coach in NBA history. Spent 18 years in professional basketball without landing a permanent top job.

He's 47. First college head coaching position.

The Video Room

Canales grew up in Laredo. After the water-spill moment, he spent a year as a student assistant at UTA. Then went home and coached two high schools because that was the only path. He came back to UTA as a full-time assistant in 2003. They won the Southland Conference that year.

He wanted the NBA. Earned a master's from VCU, then cold-called his way into a video internship with the Blazers in 2005. Terrible pay. Worse hours. He modeled his career after Erik Spoelstra — video room to bench to head coach. Four years cutting film. Promoted to assistant in 2009. Summer League head coach in 2010.

March 15, 2012

Canales was at the gym when his phone blew up. Fifty-plus texts. Portland had fired Nate McMillan with 23 games left. They handed the team to their youngest assistant.

At 33, he became the first Mexican-American head coach in NBA history. His first game was the next night in Chicago. The Bulls had the best record in basketball. Portland won 100-89.

He went 8-15. Portland hired Terry Stotts permanently. Canales stayed as an assistant. That fall, a rookie from Weber State named Damian Lillard showed up. Canales helped him through his first year. The relationship stuck.

Eighteen Years, Six Cities

After Portland: Dallas for five years. The Knicks for two. Indiana. Orlando. The G League. The Canadian league, where he took the Calgary Surge to a 17-7 record and the CEBL Championship final. First former NBA head coach in Canadian league history.

Good at every stop. Never got the permanent NBA job.

In September 2025, Cross — now at Troy — finally talked him into college. Troy went 22-12, won the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles, made the NCAAs as a 13-seed. Then Cross left for Georgia Tech on March 20. Canales was on his own.

The Lillard Connection

Lillard was named Weber State's GM in August 2025. First-of-its-kind deal for an active NBA player. His first big move: transitioning Eric Duft out as head coach (66-65 in four seasons) and hiring Canales on April 3.

Lillard and Canales overlapped for one season in Portland — Lillard's rookie year. Fourteen years later, the rookie is the GM and the coach works for him.

"I'm very excited to welcome K to the Weber State family," Lillard said. On Instagram: "We are going places... let's get it!"

Woj called it "incredible." Harrison Barnes said "big time." The Deseret News reported Canales was being looked at for NBA head coaching jobs. He picked a Big Sky school in Ogden instead.

What He Inherits

Six players hit the portal before Canales held his press conference. Seven to nine roster spots open. Key returner is Tijan Saine Jr., Big Sky First Team. No conference title in a decade.

Canales didn't hedge: "One of my goals is to be one of the top programs in the country." He wants "bigger, faster, stronger" players who can shoot. He pitched Weber State as a development destination. "I know players want to get better. There's going to be no better place in the country for them to come do that here."

Lillard's star power is behind every recruiting pitch. Duft stays in the building in a front-office role. Institutional memory and NBA credibility in the same office.

From Laredo

Canales still runs the Assist 13 Foundation. Free youth basketball camps in Laredo and South Texas. Founded it in 2009. The "13" is his old number. Camps are free because he remembers what it was like growing up without a pathway into the sport.

He brought his wife Cristie, son Bauer, and daughter Sloane to Ogden. "Great city," he said. "Just a great city to raise a family."

Cross, his friend for 25 years, said the resume was "second to none." Then the part that mattered: "He'd get me fired up every day." A reference to 6 a.m. workouts at UT Arlington, decades ago.

Twenty-five years from a water spill to a head coaching job. Canales would call it the path.