Magic Add to Basketball Operations Department

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic have named Ernest Eugene head athletic trainer, Luke Storey head strength and conditioning coach, Sameer Mehta physical therapist and Nathan Spencer performance and rehabilitation coach, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deals are not disclosed.

In addition, Christian Espinoza, who served as an intern last season, has been promoted to full-time as assistant athletic trainer. Chad Gerhard (applied sports scientist) and Aki Tajima (athletic trainer/manual therapist) will remain on the staff.

Eugene joins Orlando after spending four seasons (2014-18) as assistant athletics director for sports medicine at Virginia Tech. He came to Virginia Tech following six seasons (2008-14) as the athletics trainer for the men’s basketball program at Marquette University, where he was promoted to director of sports medicine during his final year.

Prior to his time at Marquette, Eugene spent five seasons (2003-08) as the assistant athletic trainer with the Washington Wizards, where his duties included prevention/rehabilitation of injuries, travel administration and injury tracking. Before his tenure with the Wizards, he served as a seasonal intern athletics trainer with the NFL’s Washington Redskins in 2003.

A native of Washington, D.C., Eugene earned his master’s degree in allied health management from The Ohio State University, where he also served as a graduate assistant athletic trainer (2001-03). He is certified as an athletic trainer (ATC), Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES), Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) and in Graston Techniques. Eugene is also an active member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Virginia Athletic Trainers’ Association and National Academy of Sports Medicine. In addition, he serves as a board member with the Council on Revenue (COR) of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Eugene was also one of 32 collegiate athletic trainers appointed to the Intercollegiate Council for Sports Medicine in June of 2017.

Eugene graduated from George Washington University in 2000, earning a bachelor of science in exercise science, with a concentration in athletics training. He also received a doctorate degree (Ed.D.) from East Tennessee State University in May 2018.

Eugene and his wife, Jackie, have two sons, Jaden and Mason, and one daughter, Harper.

Storey comes to Orlando after spending more than five years (2013-18) at Peak Performance Project (P3), a sports performance facility that utilizes advanced sports science technologies to assess and train professional athletes.

Storey began at P3 as a senior performance specialist and was later promoted to director of performance, where he was responsible for leading and supporting the performance team, while also ensuring that all aspects of professional growth were being met.

Before joining the staff at P3, Storey, originally from London, England, was a strength and conditioning coach in professional cricket, rugby and within the English Institute of Sport. He attended the University of Chichester in West Sussex, England, earning a bachelor’s degree in sport and exercise science, as well as a master’s degree in sport and exercise physiology.

Storey and his wife, Calais, have a son, Finley.

Mehta comes to Orlando after spending 12 years at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. He joined MedStar in March 2006 as a physical therapist, then spent the last six years as clinical supervisor/outpatient physical therapy.

Prior to his time at MedStar, Mehta was a student physical therapist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, as well as Athletic Conditioning Injury Center in Irvine, Calif. He also served as an intern strength and conditioning coach at Boston College in 2002-03.

Mehta is a board certified sports clinical specialist (SCS) through the American Physical Therapy Association and a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS).

Mehta attended Boston University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and a bachelor’s degree in health studies. He also earned his master’s degree in physical therapy, as well as a doctorate in physical therapy from Boston University.

Spencer joins Orlando after spending three seasons (2015-18) as head strength and conditioning coach with the Illawarra Hawks of the National Basketball League in Australia. Prior to his time with Illawarra, he was a strength and conditioning coach in professional rugby.

An Australian native, Spencer received his bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of New South Wales in Australia and a master’s degree in high performance sport from Australian Catholic University.