Stephen Michael Lavin (born September 4, 1964) is an American men's
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
coach and broadcaster who is the head coach of the
San Diego Toreros
The San Diego Toreros are the 17 teams representing the University of San Diego of San Diego, California in intercollegiate athletics. The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate At ...
of the
West Coast Conference
The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...
(WCC). He previously served as head coach of the
St. John's Red Storm and
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...
. In eleven full seasons as a head coach, Lavin had led teams to ten postseason appearances, highlighted by eight
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Tournament berths, an Elite Eight ('97), five
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Regional semifinals ('97, '98, '00, '01, '02) and nine campaigns of twenty or more wins. Lavin has also been a
broadcaster for
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
,
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
and
Pac-12 Network
The Pac-12 Network (P12N; also sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks) is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities are headquart ...
.
Early life
Lavin was born on September 4, 1964 in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. He was raised in
Marin County
Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
and attended Ross Grammar School before his time at
Sir Francis Drake High School
Archie Williams High School is a public secondary school located in San Anselmo, California. It is named after a former math and computing teacher Archie Williams, who was also a gold medalist in the 1936 Summer Olympics, a flight instructor with ...
in
San Anselmo, California
San Anselmo () is an List of cities in California, incorporated town in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, California, San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet (14 m). It ...
, where he was a member of the basketball team that won the 1982 California state championship with a 34–0 record.
Lavin initially attended
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...
, where he played on the basketball team for two years. He transferred to
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
, from which he graduated in 1988 with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in communications.
Lavin's coaching career began in 1988 when he was hired as an assistant by
Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
head coach
Gene Keady
Lloyd Eugene Keady (born May 21, 1936) is an American basketball coach. He is best known for his 25 years serving as the head men's basketball coach at Purdue University in Indiana. In his tenure leading the Boilermakers from 1980 to 2005, he went ...
. After three years on the
Boilermaker
A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...
staff, Lavin returned to California when UCLA head coach
Jim Harrick
James Richard Harrick (born July 25, 1938) is a former American basketball coach. He has been the head coach at UCLA, Pepperdine University, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Georgia over a combined total of 23 seasons. During ...
hired him as a
Bruins assistant in 1991.
Prior to becoming head coach at UCLA, Lavin was an assistant coach on the Bruins' staff for five years, including the 1995 national championship team that finished with a 32–1 record.
Coaching career
UCLA
Shortly before the 1996 season, UCLA fired Jim Harrick for issues related to violations at a recruiting meal.
[Wolff, Alexande]
Out To Dinner, Out Of A Job
Sports Illustrated, November 18, 1996 Lavin was the assistant on staff with the longest tenure at UCLA and was selected as interim head coach.
Later that season on February 11, 1997, with the Bruins tied for first place in the Pac-10 with an 8–3 record, UCLA removed the "interim" tag from Lavin's title and formally named him as its 11th head coach. The Bruins then won their next 11 games en route to the
Pac-10
The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
title, before being eliminated by the
Minnesota Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...
in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final.
Notable Lavin achievements at UCLA:
* During the period 1997 – 2002, Lavin's Bruins compiled nine consecutive overtime victories. These included victories over
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
,
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
(2002 NCAA second round double overtime victory over No. 1 West Region seed),
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
, and
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
(then ranked No 1).
* In his time at UCLA, from 1996 to 2003, he compiled a record of 145–78.
* From 1989 to 2002 as an assistant and head coach, Lavin participated in 13 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
* During Lavin's tenure as a head coach, he was one of only two coaches in the country to lead a team to five NCAA regional semifinals (Sweet 16's) in six seasons – the other coach being
Duke's Mike Krzyzewski
Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five natio ...
.
* Lavin's record at UCLA in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament was 10–1. His winning percentage (90.9%) in the first two rounds is second only to
Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...
in NCAA Tournament history.
* Lavin is the only college coach to have defeated the No. 1 team in the country in four consecutive collegiate seasons: Stanford in 2000 and 2001, Kansas in 2002 and Arizona in 2003.
* Lavin guided UCLA to six consecutive seasons of 20 or more wins, as well as six consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
* As head coach at UCLA, Lavin and his staff recruited and signed the No. 1 rated recruiting class in the country in 1998 and 2001. Lavin signed seven McDonald's High School All-Americans.
* Thirteen of Lavin's former UCLA players became roster members of NBA teams:
Trevor Ariza
Trevor Anthony Ariza (born June 30, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won an NBA championship in his first stint with the Lakers in 2009 ...
,
Matt Barnes
Matt Barnes (born March 9, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Barnes was drafted in the second round of the 2002 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He ...
,
Baron Davis
Baron Walter Louis Davis (born April 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who is a studio analyst for the ''NBA on TNT''. He was a two-time NBA All-Star, made the All-NBA Third Team in 2004, and twice led the NBA in s ...
,
Dan Gadzuric
Daniel Gadzuric (born February 2, 1978) is a Dutch-Serbian former professional basketball player.
Gadzuric, a center, attended preparatory school at The Governor's Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, before playing college basketball for the Bru ...
,
Ryan Hollins
Ryan Kenwood Hollins (born October 10, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is a color commentator for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. H ...
,
Jason Kapono
Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...
,
Earl Watson
Earl Joseph Watson Jr. (born June 12, 1979) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA ...
,
Jerome Moiso
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is com ...
,
Charles O'Bannon
Charles Edward O'Bannon Sr. (born February 22, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins. He was a two-time first-team all-conference player in the Pac-10 (now known as the Pac-1 ...
,
Jelani McCoy
Jelani Marwan McCoy (born December 6, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'10" power forward/center, he played in the NBA from 1998-2007 for the Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavali ...
,
Toby Bailey
John Garfield "Toby" Bailey (born November 19, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently a sports agent.
College career
Bailey played four years of college basketball at UCLA, being part of the Bruins squad th ...
,
Dijon Thompson
Dijon Lynn Thompson (born February 23, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player who played briefly in the National Basketball Association (NBA). While he played mainly at the shooting guard position in his early career, he als ...
, and
J.R. Henderson.
In March 2003, following Lavin's first losing season at UCLA (10–19), Lavin was relieved of his duties as head coach.
St. John's University
In 2010, Lavin was hired as the head men's basketball coach at
St. John's University. During Lavin's tenure, three of his teams earned 20 or more wins including two NCAA appearances.
In Lavin's first year, he coached the Red Storm to a 21–12 record. The 21 wins were St. John's highest total since the 2002–03 season and its NCAA tournament appearance was the first since 2002.
Lavin inherited a team that finished in 13th place in the
Big East
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...
Conference in 2009–10. The next year the same players finished at 12–6. A jump of similar magnitude had previously occurred only one other time in Big East Conference history.
The Red Storm finished the 2011 season ranked 18th in the Associated Press Top 25, marking the first time it qualified for the postseason as a ranked team since 2000–01. The Red Storm posted a 7–1 record at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
and saw its home attendance climb by 38.1 percent, marking the fourth-largest increase in NCAA Division I men's basketball.
Lavin underwent treatment for cancer on October 6, 2011, consequently only coaching four games in the 2011–12 season as his doctors modified his schedule during recovery. [
In 2012–13, Lavin's third year as head coach, St. John's finished with a 17–16 overall record. The Red Storm received an NIT bid, and earned a victory at the buzzer at St. Joseph's before falling on the road to Virginia in the next game.
In the 2013–14 season, Lavin led the Red Storm to a 20–13 record finishing conference play in a three-way, 3rd place tie that resulted in an invitation to the NIT, where they were humiliated by Robert Morris.
In 2014–15, Lavin led St. John's to a 21–12 record and a second NCAA tournament appearance.
Almost immediately after the season ended, on March 27, 2015, Lavin was fired. Thereafter, he returned to his role as a college basketball TV analyst in studio and in the booth for games.
Broadcasting career
Lavin began his broadcasting career in 2003, soon after being fired from UCLA, when he signed a multi-year deal with ABC and ESPN. For seven years he made regular appearances on ESPN College GameNight and provided color commentary alongside his partners Brent Musburger and Dave O'Brien (sportscaster), Dave O'Brien at prime-time college games around the country. Lavin also contributed to ESPN coverage on the NBA draft.
After being fired by St. John's Lavin joined the
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...
,
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...
and
Pac-12 Network
The Pac-12 Network (P12N; also sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks) is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities are headquart ...
broadcasting teams as a college basketball and NBA analyst.
Awards and honors
* 1997 – International Inspiration Award from the Hugh O'Brien Youth Foundation (HOBY)
* 1998 –
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
Alumnus of the Year (also serves on Board of Governors at Chapman University)
* 2001 –
Pac-10 Coach of the Year
* 2005 – Distinguished Alumni award from the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts from
Chapman University
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...
* 2011 – District II Coach of the Yea
Philanthropy
Lavin has participated in and been involved with numerous organizations and charities throughout Lavin's coaching career. Such charities include the Jimmy V Foundation,
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in the United States that helps fulfill the wishes of children with a critical illness between the ages of and 18 years old.
Make-A-Wish was founded in 1980 and headqua ...
,
United Service Organization
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
, Special Olympics, City of Hope, Coaches vs. Cancer, Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation, and Wounded Warriors.
In an October 2010 ceremony with Anthony Butler, Executive Director of St. John's Bread & Life, and Steve Starker of BTIG Brokerage, Lavin made a $35,000, multi-year pledge to aid New York City's homeless and hungry. Lavin was honored in 2011 with The Johnny's Angel Award, celebrating his contributions to the Bread and Life Soup Kitchen.
Lavin has been very active with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, where he has joined in numerous fundraising and awareness events. Lavin is part of The V Foundation President's Club, donating more than $50,000 to the organization. Other members of the leadership team are Duke's
Mike Krzyzewski
Michael William Krzyzewski ( ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five natio ...
, Kentucky's
John Calipari
John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College C ...
, and Michigan State's
Tom Izzo
Tom Izzo (, ); born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Izzo has led the Spart ...
. In addition, Lavin has been extremely involved with Coaches vs. Cancer, a foundation that Lavin has helped raise over $1.5 million for since 2010.
Head coaching record
*2011–2012: Missed games recovering from cancer surgery, assistant coach
Mike Dunlap
Michael Gregory Dunlap (born May 27, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach who serves as assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association. Dunlap is the former head coach of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. ...
served as interim head coach.
*2013: Missed two games due to Father's death
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavin, Steve
1964 births
Living people
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from California
Basketball players from San Francisco
Chapman Panthers men's basketball players
College basketball announcers in the United States
College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball coaches
San Francisco State University alumni
St. John's Red Storm men's basketball coaches
UCLA Bruins men's basketball coaches