Steve Lavin


Stephen Michael Lavin is an American broadcaster for Fox Sports, CBS Sports and Pac-12 Network. Lavin served as head coach of two storied college basketball programs - most recently St. John's University in New York City, and previously UCLA.
In eleven full seasons as a head coach, Lavin had led teams to ten postseason appearances, highlighted by eight NCAA Tournament berths, an Elite Eight, five NCAA Regional Semifinals and nine campaigns of twenty or more wins.

Early life

Lavin was born on September 4, 1964 in San Francisco. He was raised in Marin County and attended Ross Grammar School before his time at Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, California, 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, where he played on the basketball team for two years. He transferred to Chapman University, from which he graduated in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in communications.
Lavin's coaching career began in 1988 when he was hired as an assistant by Purdue head coach Gene Keady. After three years on the Boilermaker staff, Lavin returned to California when UCLA head coach Jim Harrick 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.

UCLA

Shortly before the 1996 season, UCLA fired Jim Harrick for issues related to violations at a recruiting meal. 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 title, before being eliminated by the Minnesota Gophers in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final.
Notable Lavin achievements at UCLA:
In March 2003, following Lavin's first losing season at UCLA, Lavin was relieved of his duties as head coach.

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 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, CBS Sports and Pac-12 Network broadcasting teams as a college basketball and NBA analyst.

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.
Other than Mike Jarvis, Lavin was the only St. John's head coach since Lou Carnesecca to have achieved three 20 win seasons.
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 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 Johnnies posted a 7-1 record at Madison Square Garden 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 beaten 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 and St. John's parted ways. Thereafter, he returned to his role as a college basketball TV analyst in studio and in the booth for games.

Awards/honors

Lavin has coached 17 players who went on to play in the NBA. During one stretch, from 1997 through 2006, Lavin had a player chosen in nine of ten consecutive NBA Drafts.

UCLA

St. John's

Philanthropy

Lavin, along with his wife, Mary Ann, 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, United Service Organization, 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, the Lavins made a $35,000, multi-year pledge to aid New York City's homeless and hungry. The Lavins were honored in 2011 with The Johnny's Angel Award, celebrating their 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, Kentucky's John Calipari, and Michigan State's Tom Izzo. 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