Early life and education
Arnold was born in 1968, when his father Frank Arnold was an assistant coach at the University of Oregon. As Frank Arnold later became an assistant at UCLA and was head coach at BYU and Hawaii, Gib Arnold grew up in the Los Angeles, Provo, Utah, and Honolulu, Hawaii areas.
Arnold graduated from Punahou School in 1987, where he was a prep All-American and Hawaii's high school Gatorade Player of the Year. [1] [2] Initially committed to Hawaii, Arnold first attended Arizona State University instead to follow his father, who became assistant coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils. [2] An honor student as a freshman, Arnold left Arizona State to go on a two-year LDS mission to Munich, Germany. [3]
In 1990, Arnold enrolled in Dixie State College, a junior college in St. George, Utah and played his first year of college basketball there. [3] Arnold transferred to UC San Diego in 1991, averaging 3.6 points in 20 games as a sophomore. [4] Retiring from basketball, Arnold transferred to Brigham Young University and graduated in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in business administration. [1] Gib later completed his master's degree in clinical psychology, at Harvard University, in Cambridge.
Coaching career
Assistant Coaching and Junior College (1994–2010)
Arnold began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Provo High School in 1994. He moved to Utah Valley State College (now Utah Valley University) as an assistant in 1995–96, followed by assistant coaching positions at Loyola Marymount (1996–97), Vanderbilt (1998–99), and Pepperdine (1999–2003). At Pepperdine, Arnold specialized in recruiting and coaching defense.
From 2003 to 2005, Arnold served as head coach at the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) [5] , leading his teams to a 57–14 record, back-to-back Scenic West Athletic Conference championships, and a third-place finish in the Junior College National Championships in 2005. He was named Region 18 Coach of the Year twice.
Arnold then joined USC as an assistant coach under Tim Floyd and later Kevin O’Neill (2005–2010), where he was recognized as one of the nation’s top recruiters. [6] He helped recruit several future NBA players, including DeMar DeRozan, Taj Gibson, O. J. Mayo, and Nikola Vucevic.
University of Hawaii (2010–2014)
In March 2010, Arnold was named head coach of the University of Hawaii basketball program [7] . He inherited a team with three consecutive losing seasons and led them to a 19–13 record and a CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) appearance in his first season. Under Arnold, Hawaii recorded its first 20-win season in over a decade in 2013–14, finishing 20–11. He became the fastest coach in Hawaii history to reach 50 wins and the only full-time coach in his tenure to avoid a losing season. His teams were also academically successful, achieving the highest team GPA in school history and perfect APR scores on multiple occasions.
In October 2014, Arnold was fired amid an NCAA investigation related to alleged Level I and II violations. The NCAA later cleared Arnold of any Level I violations and determined he had no knowledge of the infractions. Arnold reached a $700,000 settlement with the university for wrongful termination.
Arnold spent five seasons in the Boston Celtics front office, assisting in player acquisitions and contributing to the development of the team that would win the 2024 NBA Championship, including the drafting of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Payton Pritchard [8] .
Recognizing the growing importance of mental strength and emotional well-being for athletes, Arnold earned a master's degree in psychology from Harvard University and founded MindBodySoul Sports Psychology & Performance in 2020. Through this work, he has coached NBA All-Stars, Olympic Gold Medalists, and professional and amateur athletes, helping improve performance and overall well-being.
Arnold later joined the University of Washington men’s basketball program [9] as general manager and director of mental performance, after working as mental performance coach for the 2024 Mountain West Champion Utah State Aggies.
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