Ali Elmi join Vanguard in the 2025-26 season and is an assistant coach as well as being the recruiting coordinator for the program.
Elmi was most recently at UC San Diego, where he was the women's basketball Data Analytics Specialist and Video Coordinator, where he helped the squad win the Big West Tournament, the first tournament crown in the schools history at the NCAA DI level. He also was part of the coaching staff that took a 12-19, 8-12 team in 2023-24 and turned it into a 20-16, 13-7 squad in 2024-25.
Before going to San Diego, Elmi served as assistant coach at the University of La Verne. His responsibilities included coordinating the defense and analytics/film breakdown for scouts. He helped the Leopards win a conference championship with the winningest record in both school and conference history at 24-3 in 2022-23. Under his defensive scheme, ULV set school records for scoring defense, averaging 58.5 PPG with .68 PPP allowed in conference play and fewest turnovers per game at 14.4.
Prior to that, he worked as an assistant coach at Cal Poly Pomona and the lead assistant coach at Hope International University. While at Hope International, Elmi served as the defensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator for the Royals women's basketball program. He was instrumental in leading HIU to its best season in program history in 2021-22, compiling a 26-6 record and finishing the year ranked second nationally in scoring defense at 52.3 PPG with .63 PPP allowed.
From 2013-2018, Elmi coached at Brea Olinda High School, amassing an overall record of 123-29 to go along with one state title, a state runner-up finish, a pair of regional championships and one CIF Championship runner-up effort.
Elmi is a 2004 graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He also holds a teaching credential in English.
