A school competing in US NCAA Division 1 basketball now has a head coach of Filipino descent.

University of California, Riverside announced Wednesday that Mike Magpayo has replaced David Patrick as head coach of its men's basketball team.

"We are thankful for coach Patrick. He and his team have provided a solid foundation for where we want to take this program and, by all accounts, we are ahead of schedule," Tamica Smith Jones, the school's director of intercollegiate athletics, said in a statement posted on the Highlanders website.

"I am fully confident that coach Magpayo will keep this team on the upward trajectory it is on."

Last season, Magpayo was the Highlanders' defensive coordinator and his scheme saw his squad wind up as a top 10 unit at the end of the tournament.

That defense also proved to be key, as UC Riverside registered a school-best 17 wins in 32 games in the US NCAA Div. 1.

Now, the founder and president of the Asian Coaches Association takes over from Patrick, who is moving on as associate coach at University of Arkansas.

"I am honored, humbled, and absolutely thrilled with the opportunity to lead our program into the future," Magpayo said.

According to UC Riverside, Magpayo made history not only by becoming the first Filipino Division 1 head coach, but also as the first shot-caller with Asian lineage.

Before his work with the Highlanders, the California native was men's basketball director of operations at University of San Francisco.

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