By Bill Sheehan
After playing professional basketball in South America for 13 years, Scott Cutley was at a crossroads.
"Once the Covid-19 pandemic hit and I sat out a year, I was thinking about what to do next – play another year or get into coaching," said Cutley, a former Cal State Fullerton star and 2008 Big West Conference Basketball Player of the Year.
"I always knew that I wanted to be a coach. At Westchester High, I was a team captain and always a coach on the floor," he said. "I thought, 'I'm going to be a better coach than I am a player.' "
The 6-foot-5, 235-pound Cutley, a versatile forward who didn't shy from contact in the paint, played every position except shooting guard while competing for several South American franchises.
During his off-seasons, he cemented a longtime friendship with ninth-year Fullerton basketball head coach Dedrique Taylor. The two first crossed paths two decades ago when Taylor, then a Loyola Marymount assistant coach, recruited Cutley.
"Deidrique has always been good about reaching out to former Titan players, even those who didn't play for him," said Cutley, who told Taylor about his desire to coach.
"We've had some initial conversations when we had openings in the past," said Taylor. "I told Scott that when he was finished playing and if he wanted to come back to Fullerton, we would do everything we could to make it happen."
The stars aligned last summer.
Cutley retired as a player and was offered and accepted a two-yeaar graduate assistant position. "It meant a lot to me. I wanted to come back and help the program keep growing."
Titans play UC Santa Barbara on Saturday
The Titans, 8-5 overall and 2-0 in the Big West, will play UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at Titan Gym. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.
Cutley, 36, said he wakes up every morning excited to go off to campus, whether it is in the classroom or at Titan Gym.
Enrolled in a two-year master's program in Instructional Design and Technology, Cutley is learning how build online curriculums and teach using the internet.
On the court, he is making his presence felt.
"Early on, I blew a whistle and stopped practice. [Assistant coach] Chris Walker told me, 'You're definitely not a grad assistant. I've never seen a grad assistant stop practice.'"
"Dedrique has a lot of respect for my knowledge of the game, and I appreciate it," said Cutley. "He has given me a bigger role than most grad assistants. During a game, I have the latitude to say something or sub someone."
Photo by Bill Sheehan / Scott Cutley is enrolled in a two-year master's program in Instructional Design and Technology.
Cutley works primarily with frontcourt players – "the bigs" – but spends time helping all the Titans with their passing, rebounding and other facets of the game. "If someone needs help, I'm happy to work with them."
Head coach serves as a role model
He has found a strong role model in Taylor. "I watch how he goes about his business as a coach. I'm learning so much about how he operates," Cutley said. "He wears a lot of different hats, but he does it without missing a step."
Taylor, whose staff also includes assistant coaches Anthony Santos and Joey Brooks, said Cutley has done "unbelievably well" this season. "He's learning the ropes," said Taylor. "First and foremost, he has the energy. Scott has a ginormous personality and gets along with everybody. He changes the temperature of the room.
"Having played professionally for 13 years, he has the knowledge and is helping these young guys with nuances of basketball. He gets the players attention but knows how to dial it back.
He has a way of telling them what they need to hear -- and what they may not want to hear -- in a positive fashion."
Vincent Lee, a 6-foot-8 starting forward for the Titans, said Cutley has provided valuable insight and "is finding his voice as a coach."
"He sees things, such as how the other teams' bigs are guarding us. He'll let us know – if you are doubled, do this," said Lee, a junior from Midlothian, Texas, who is averaging 9.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
"He'll make sure we get to certain spots on the floor for our shots," added Lee, who also plans on pursuing a basketball coaching career.
Cutley was born in Inglewood and raised in the Hawthorne area and Torrance by his parents, Teresa Morrissey and the late James Cutley. He has two older siblings, Sean and Yvonne.
Strong work ethic and strong basketball cited
He has remained close with his Westchester High School coach, Ed Azzam, and they play golf together. Azzam, who won 15 Los Angeles City titles and a City record 932 victories in 42 seasons before retiring last year, said Cutley picked things up quickly and had a great work ethic and extremely high basketball IQ.
"Scott was a little immature as a young player, but after a while he realized we weren't playing around. He was a little undersized as a power forward but was a gifted player who could step out and shoot mid-range shots. He had good footwork and could defend any player in the post. The practices and games were more enjoyable when Scott was around.
"He has worked at a couple of my camps. He is a good teacher and very patient. I don't have any doubt that he will be a very good college coach. We don't really touch upon it, but we take the game too seriously. Scott is going to have a good time teaching and working with the kids. He'll teach them that you can play hard and compete but still have a good time doing it."
Cutley played alongside future NBA players Trevor Ariza, Bobby Brown and Hassan Adams at Westchester High. In all, 14 players earned scholarships to Division 1 schools during his time at Westchester. The school won two state championships and three City titles during Cutley's three years on the varsity.
As a senior in 2003, Cutley was all-state and all-City. He received offers from Oregon State, Colorado, New Mexico and other schools in the West.
But he wanted to have an out-of-state college experience and chose to attend Kent State.
Cutley was a two-year starter for the Ohio school in the Mid-American Conference. But when his chief recruiter, Rob Murphy, left to coach at Syracuse University, Cutley decided he would move on too.
A transfer to Cal State Fullerton
He transferred to Fullerton. "I was a little homesick, and it gave me an opportunity to play with my best friend, Bobby Brown. I felt I could help them. And [head coach] Bob Burton seemed more than happy to have me."
Brown said getting the chance to play with Cutley once again meant a lot. "Scott is a funny guy and always has people laughing. He's been a loyal friend since ninth grade, like a blood brother. "He's always has been adamant about coaching," said Brown, who played for the NBA G League team Ignite this season before becoming a free agent. "I'm glad he is doing it."
In 2008, Scott Cutley helped lead the Fullerton to the Big West regular season and tournament championships.
After a required redshirt year, Cutley averaged 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game in two seasons at Fullerton. In 2008, he helped he Titans to a 24-9 record and the Big West regular season and tournament championships. He shared conference Player of the Year honors with Alex Harris of UC Santa Barbara.
A two-time Big West First Team selection, Cutley recorded 20 double-double during his career, which ranks fourth in Fullerton history.
Cutley, who earned a degree in communications, turned his focus toward international basketball after being undrafted. He continued working out that summer, but Cutley said his agent was unable to find him work in Europe.
Former Titan assistant coach Andy Newman, now Cal State San Bernardino's basketball head coach, contacted Cutley about an opening with a team in Argentina. "I didn't know any Spanish, but I wanted to start my pro career. I liked the money – I got a fair offer. I went and loved it."
He later separated from his agent and signed with Buenos Aires-based Gustavo Monella, who represents both players and coaches across South America. Monella remained Cutley's agent for the next dozen years. "I loved him as an agent. He's built his brand and now one of the bigger agents in Argentina, even representing guys in the NBA."
Language, style of play were challenges
Cutley signed his first contract with Division 1 team Atlético Echagüe in Paraná, about 234 miles north of Buenos Aires. His biggest challenge, other than the language barrier, was learning the style of play in Argentina.
"It was super-physical, and the referees rarely called fouls," he said. "You could get away with strong, physical screens. And some rules were different. Only coaches can call timeouts. In one of my first games, I was on the ground trying to call a timeout. The ref looked at me like I was crazy."
In Paraná, the team contracted with a restaurant to feed the team members daily. "I had never had an empanada before. I loved the food."
After three or four months, Cutley had an urge for American cuisine. He walked into a McDonald's, but his lack of Spanish kept him from ordering. "I had trouble because the menu was in Spanish. I couldn't communicate at the counter, and as the line behind me got longer, I got frustrated and finally just walked out. I told one of my teammates, 'I will pay you if you order my food at McDonald's,' " he recalled, laughing.
In South America, Scott Cutley played for teams in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Colombia and competed in a tournament in Brazil.
His next three teams were also in Argentina: Central Entrerriano, in Gualeguaychú, Club Atlético Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires and Club Alianza Viedma in northern Patagonia.
"The first few years, I had no desire to learn Spanish. But eventually I wanted to communicate better on the court, so I started learning words and phrases. I kept improving, and I got good enough to give interviews in Spanish and talk with the fans."
Basketball is a popular in South America, said Cutley. "Soccer is number one, by far. And rugby is second. Basketball is third of fourth," he said.
Cutley won championships in Argentina and Paraguay
Besides Argentina, Cutley played for teams in Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and Colombia and competed in a tournament Brazil. He won championships Instituto Atlético Central in Córdoba, Argentina, and Club Libertad in the Paraguayan capital of Asunción.
Another former Titan, Marcus Morgan, played for a rival team in Córdoba, which is 435 miles north of Buenos Aires "We hung out together on our off days. In my opinion, Córdoba was one of the best cities in Argentina," said Cutley.
If his team advanced deep in the playoffs, Cutley said he could be in South American from September to June. If his team didn't advance to the post-season, he would switch over to another club. "After playing for in the spring, summer and fall down there, I always returned home for a second summer," he said.
"Scott was a really good player and a good person," said Monella, the Buenos Aires-based agent who represents players and coaches. "He smiles, has good manners and respected his teammates. Everyone liked him in every city and the fans loved Scott too.
"In addition to the two team titles, he was the league MVP in Chile and reached the finals in Colombia. Everywhere I sent him, he was successful."
Cutley has all the ingredients to be a successful coach, according to Monella.
"Scott loved to work, train and spend time in the gym. He studied the game as a player, and undoubtedly will do the same as a coach, he said. "He has the ability to connect with players and coaches. Having a very sociable coach it's a good asset for a team."
As he begins his coaching career, Cutley said his South American experience added to his knowledge of the game and ability to communicate.
"The whole different environment was challenging at first, and I was a little intimidated. But I learned to enjoy it in the present moment. I embraced the culture and built a lot of relationshps."
Interview with Scott Cutley.#TusksUp pic.twitter.com/Qi4hELcfkQ
— Titans Men's Basketball (@FullertonMBB) January 14, 2022
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