Former 'Ball Brothers', Chino Hills Basketball Coach Takes Over at Calabasas High

Steve Baik, who coached Lonzo, Li'Angelo, and LaMelo Ball at Chino Hills during the program's national prominence, is taking over at Calabasas High.

Steve Baik (middle left) was once the head coach at Chino Hills with the 'Ball Brothers', now he's the coach at Calabasas High. | Steve Baik/IG

Calabasas High has announced Steve Baik as its new boys basketball coach after longtime coach Jon Palarz stepped down in March. Baik has been in Nashville the last four years growing his own basketball academy focused on young players.

“I’ve missed it. I’ve missed coaching. The competitiveness,” he said. “When the job opened, I was intrigued. I knew the coaches before — Palarz and Russell White. I’m really honored and humbled to be at a great school with a great administration and AD.”

Baik’s hire is splashy. He was most notably the head coach at Chino Hills where he coached the ‘Ball Brothers’ during the height of their stardom, including the 2015-16 season when the Huskies went 35-0 with Lonzo, LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball en route to a CIF State Open Division championship.

The team also had now-NBA center Onyeka Okongwu, who was a freshman along with LaMelo that season. Baik’s Chino Hills team ended up finishing the season No. 1 in the country according to MaxPreps, which many consider a national championship.

“We are really excited to have Coach Baik taking over our boys basketball program,” Calabasas athletic director Thomas Cassidy said. “His track record speaks for itself and we look forward to his impact on our program.”

Baik left Chino Hills after that magical season to become the coach at Fairfax in the LA City Section, taking over for the great Harvey Kitani. Baik led Fairfax to a City Section Open Division title in 2019 before resigning shortly after. He’s the only coach in CIF history to win a Southern Section and City Section championship in the highest divisions.

So, why come back to California? Baik’s answer was centered around to foundational things: family and basketball.

“I wanted to be closer to my family, and basketball allows me to do that now,” Baik said. “Calabasas and the surrounding area is a great basketball community, especially with the Sports Academy close by.”

Baik has four children. Two boys, 15 and 10 years old, and two daughters, 8 and 5.

TAKING OVER AT CALABASAS

Jon Palarz was the coach at Calabasas for 17 years and won eight Marmonte League titles in that span.

The Coyotes have had some standout players come through the program under Palarz, including Jeremy Lieberman (Wyoming), Larry Bush (UNLV), Ryan Murph (Pittsburgh), Max Cheylov (UC Santa Barbara), Gavin Murphy (Texas A&M), and Max Hoetzel (San Diego State).

Calabasas won CIF titles in 2012 (3AA) and 2014 (2A).