John O'Neill, who was Palomar's No. 1 assistant coach for three seasons, took over as head coach at the beginning of the 2002-2003 season and guided the Comets to their third Pacific Coast Conference championship in four years. In 2005-06, he coached Palomar to its fourth conference title in six seasons.

He was associate head coach under Virgil Watson, now the head coach at Los Angeles Valley Community College, during Palomar's conference championship 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 seasons.

O'Neill came to Palomar as an assistant under Watson after compiling a 343-208 record in 20 seasons on the high school level.

O'Neill's teams at Rancho Buena Vista High School compiled a 218-129 record, advanced to the CIF-San Diego Section quarterfinals or better every season, played in the CIF championship game four times and advanced to the semifinals three other times.

O'Neill received his B.S. degree from Pepperdine University. He began his basketball head coaching career in the CIF-Southern section. He was head coach at South Torrance High School for one season and was head coach at Bonita High School for seven seasons.

He coached Rancho Buena Vista to San Diego Section Division I championships in both 1994-95 and 1996-97. O'Neill's most successful team record was in his 1997-98 squad, which went 27-3, but lost in the semi-finals. He finished his tenure at RBV with five straight 20-win seasons and five consecutive Palomar League titles.

O'Neill lives in Vista with his wife Erin, and daughter Cahill. The couple's son, Casey O'Neill, played basketball at Rancho Buena Vista High School, graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is an English language instructor in South Korea.

John Hotaling

Assistant Coach

John Hotaling is a product of Mission Bay High School, where he played basketball and baseball and graduated in 2003. He first enrolled at Palomar College in the 2003-04 academic year.

Hotaling red-shirted in his first year at Palomar, then played for coach John O'Neill's Comets as a freshman in the 2004-05 season. He was team captain during the 2005-06 season when the Comets won a Pacific Coast Conference championship. Hotaling was an all-conference selection his sophomore year. 

He received a full scholarship to Harris-Stowe State University (NAIA Div I) in St. Louis, Mo.  Hotaling played two years for the Hornets while studying for his degree in Criminal Justice. He is finishing up his Bachelor's Degree at Cal State San Marcos. 

This is his third season as assistant coach on O'Neill's staff.

John Clark

Assistant Coach

John Clark is in his first season as an assistant coach on John O'Neill's staff.

Clark is a product of Mission Bay High School, where he played basketball and volleyball. In basketball, Clark was first-team All-CIF San Diego Section, All-Western League, team captain, Mission Bay's MVP and was the Buccaneers' leading scorer each season he played. He graduated in June 1999.

Clark played on the community college level at Grossmont College in 1999-2000, red-shirted in 2000-2001 and played for the Griffins again in 2001-2002, making first-team All-Pacific Coast Conference and helping lead the Griffs to a co-championship with Palomar. It was Grossmont's first conference title since 1986.

He received a full scholarship to NCAA Division I Cal State Northridge, playing in the Big West Conference. He majored in Psychology at Northridge, starting at guard for the Matadors and averaging 10 points a game. Clark played his final season at the University of St. Mary's, an NAIA school in Leavenworth, KS. He was team captain, led the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference in scoring and was an all-conference selection. He also majored in Psychology at St. Mary's.

Clark had an extensive professional career playing overseas and participating in various pro and semi-pro workouts and camps. He played for the San Diego Wildcats in the ABA in 2008. The Wildcats made it to the league finals, placing second. He also completed in Mexico's top league (LNBP) for two seasons, played in Canada and played i the IBL. He played the 2009-2010 season with the San Diego Surf in the A BA. He was the team's captain and leading scorer and made the All-Star Team-West.

Michael Lewis

Assistant Coach

Michael Lewis returns to Palomar, where he was an assistant basketball coach under Andy Gilmour and, later Richard Johnson. After leaving Palomar, Lewis was an assistant coach at Southwestern College.

Lewis is Assistant Director of Transfer Services at California State University San Marcos.

Main Basketball Page

Copyright © 2011-12 Palomar Community College. All rights reserved.

Copyright Policy

top

Questions about this web site? contact Tom Saxe