Walberg resigns as Pepperdine men's basketball coach

1/17/2008 3:10 PM

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) -Vance Walberg resigned as head coach of the Pepperdine men's basketball team Thursday.

Walberg, in his second season with the Waves, cited personal and family reasons for his decision. Assistant Eric Bridgeland takes over as interim coach.

The 56-year-old Walberg's resignation follows Pepperdine's 92-57 loss on Monday to West Coast Conference opponent Gonzaga. The defeat, the Waves' sixth in seven games, dropped them to 6-12 overall and 0-2 in conference.

A success as coach at Fresno City College, Walberg leaves Pepperdine with a 14-35 record.

He went 133-11 at Fresno from 2003-2006 and won the 2005 state JC championship. Earlier, he had a 481-159 record in 22 seasons as a high school coach.

``It just comes down to what I need to do personally and what's best for my family. I'd like to thank the entire Pepperdine community for their support,'' Walberg said. ``We have a lot of good people here. We've got some really good kids on this team and I wish them well.''

The 36-year-old Bridgeland was a head coach for seven seasons at the Division II and Division III levels and had a 115-65 record. He was the Northwest Conference's coach of the year for the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 seasons while he was a Puget Sound.