Chris Paddock is beginning his first season as the assistant coach of the Pioneer basketball program.

A high school All-American at Abilene Cooper High School, Coach Paddock, who stands seven feet tall, went on to play at Blinn Junior College and then spent two seasons at the University of New Mexico where he helped lead the Lobos to two NCAA National Tournament bids and the 1996 Western Athletic Conference Championship.

Following his graduation from UNM, Coach Paddock spent one year at Albuquerque's Sandia High School where he was a boy's varsity assistant coach. He then moved to Amarillo, Tex. where he was boys coach at Fannin Middle School before moving on to Caprock High School as assistant boys coach.

Coach Paddock took over the struggling varsity girl's basketball program at Caprock High in 2004. The Lady Horns won just two games in his first year, but improved steadily, just missing the playoffs during the 2006-07 season with a 16-16 record. The 2007-08 CHS girls did reach the playoffs, bowing out in the bidistrict round to Lubbock Estacado High School.

Coach Paddock and his wife, Misty, have a daughter, Hadley, who is two.