Chatman Named Director of Men’s Basketball Strength and Conditioning
University of Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg announced Tuesday the hiring of veteran college strength coach Michael Chatman as Director of Strength and Conditioning for the Husker men’s basketball program.
Chatman brings more than 15 years of experience at the Division I level to the Huskers, including stints at power conference programs in the Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12 Conferences. He has helped 10 of his former players reach the NBA, including five first-round draft picks, and has been a part of three programs which advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
“Michael will be a tremendous addition to our staff,” Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “He comes highly recommended from coaches around the country and has a proven track record of player development and preparing players for the NBA.”
Chatman comes to Lincoln after serving as the head men’s basketball strength and conditioning coach at LSU for the past two seasons. In his role with the Tigers, he designed, implemented and monitored comprehensive performance programs, directed high-performance operations integrating strength training, sports science and recovery and oversaw return-to-play protocols in collaboration with the Tigers’ sports medicine staff.
Before taking the position at LSU, Chatman spent five seasons at Stanford, serving as the Sports Performance Coach for the men’s basketball and men’s golf programs. He is known, among other things, for his development of movement and mobility protocols and has also worked with team nutritionists and athletic trainers. In working with various sports, Chatman has stressed life lessons and etiquette importance in teaching skills beyond the weight room.
The Baton Rouge, La., native began his career with stints at Southeastern Louisiana and Southern before working at Penn State, Texas and Michigan. In 2016, he was named Director of Basketball Performance in 2016 at Southern Mississippi before he was chosen as Assistant Athletic Director of Strength and Conditioning at Towson from 2017 to 2019.
Chatman is a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, practicing as a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Chatman has a sports performance certification from USA Weightlifting, is a Functional Movement Screen Certified Level I instructor, a performance enhancement specialist for the National Academy of Sports Medicine and a certified specialist in speed and explosion of the National Association of Speed and Explosion. Chatman is also CPR certified by the American Red Cross.
Chatman graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University with a degree in applied science and earned his master’s degree in exercise science from California University of Pennsylvania.
He replaces Kurt Joseph, who was named Director of Strength & Conditioning for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans earlier this month.