Charlens, a San Diego native, is extremely pleased that coaching has brought him home. Charlens played basketball at University City High School in San Diego. He continued his basketball career at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. While at Saddleback, Charlens helped lead the Gauchos to Back to Back Orange Empire Conference championships and a Final Eight Appearance.

Building on his accomplishments in the community college system, Mitch went on to play at San Francisco State University where he became a team captain. Once his playing days were over, Charlens entered the business world. After realizing that was not his passion, Mitch returned to basketball by coaching at Lowell High School in San Francisco. The following season he became an assistant coach at SFSU. He was then brought on as an assistant at Chico State University before working with Rusty Smith at the College of the Sequoias the past two seasons. In their final season under Smith and Charlens, The College of the Sequoias achieved the best record in the state (28-3) and earned a trip to the California Community College Final Four.

Mitch earned his Bachelor's degree in Psychology at San Francisco State University and his Master's degree in Physical Education at Chico State University. He resides in San Diego with his wife Erin, son Brandon (2 yrs old), and daughter, Chloe (9 weeks).