Jerod Haase

Early life

Born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, California, Haase is one of five siblings, all of whom have played an intercollegiate sport. Haase played high school basketball with long time NBA Executive Chris Grant who was most recently the General Manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers. South Tahoe High School. Western High had an enrollment four times the size of Haase's South Tahoe High School and they met again a year later in Haase's senior year, again for the state title. South Tahoe won and the game went down in Nevada state basketball history. In his junior year recruiters started to notice Haase's ability, and he was invited to many college showcase camps. Haase attended the Stanford High Potential Camp where he spent time with Stanford guard Kenny Ammon honing his skills and was named the camp MVP. Stanford was one of the first schools to show interest in Haase when he won the Nevada AAA Player of the Year, but during Haase's senior year the University of California, Berkeley expressed major interest in Haase along with former NBA player and current NBA coach Jason Kidd. Haase signed a letter of intent to play for California before his senior season of high school because of the proximity to his home, and he wanted to play in a major conference.

California

Haase went to the University of California, Berkeley to play during the 1993 season. Haase moved into the starting lineup and averaged 12 points and three assists through the first ten games for the California Golden Bears. During his freshman season at Cal, after a game against USC, Haase got a phone call from his mother saying that she took Gary, Haase's father, to the hospital because of an infection near his ankle. Gary Haase went into shock while in the hospital and died before Haase played a game against UCLA; he was not present at the time of his father's death. Later in his freshman season at Cal, his coach Lou Campanelli was fired and interim (and later permanent) coach Todd Bozeman was brought in. Haase was benched and the Bears finished the regular season winning 9 of their last 10 games to reach the NCAA Tournament. Haase scored thirteen points in California's upset of powerhouse Duke in the second round, and after the season ended Haase transferred from California to the University of Kansas.

Kansas

Haase arrived at Kansas and contributed immediately. During his sophomore season he was named the Big Eight newcomer of the year and a second team all-conference selection. He also led the Jayhawks in scoring with 15.0 points per game. In Haase's junior year he scored his career best 30 points against the Temple Owls. He was also named to the Big Eight all defensive team that year. The Jayhawks went 34–2 in the 1996–97 season, Haase's final year. He was named a co-captain and was in the starting lineup with Jacque Vaughn, Scot Pollard, Raef LaFrentz and Paul Pierce. Haase averaged 12.0 points per game his senior year and was named a Wooden and Naismith award finalist despite playing several games with a broken wrist. Haase's Kansas career came to an end on March 21, 1997, when Kansas lost to the Arizona Wildcats in the NCAA tournament. He started 99 of 101 games with the Jayhawks and his record in three years with the Jayhawks was 89–13. The Jayhawks also won three consecutive conference titles with Jerod Haase. The Jayhawks were ranked from number 5 to number one during Haase's three years, and the Jayhawks were one of the favorites to win the 1996–97 national Championship.

After college career

After Haase's senior season he co-wrote a book entitled Floor Burns with author Mark Horvath. The book describes the 1996–1997 season when the Jayhawks were ranked number one for 15 consecutive weeks but lost to Arizona in the NCAA Tournament. Haase then had a brief career playing professional basketball in Macedonia. When his short career in Macedonia ended he decided to self-publish his book Floor Burns and revisit towns around Kansas giving instructional basketball camps. Haase visited around 40 towns and conducted over 100 basketball camps. He then decided to turn his focus to coaching.

Kansas

Haase broke into coaching with his former coach Roy Williams at his former school, Kansas. Haase along with his roommate at Kansas, C.B. McGrath, split time working on the sidelines with Coach Williams or working behind the scenes. Haase spent four years as an assistant to Roy Williams at Kansas before Williams decided to leave Lawrence, Kansas for Chapel Hill, North Carolina and take the North Carolina coaching job.

North Carolina

Haase followed Williams to North Carolina where he coached for Roy Williams for eight years. Haase had many responsibilities in Chapel Hill including coaching the North Carolina Tar Heels junior varsity basketball team. The Junior Varsity team plays a 14-game schedule against local competition as well as outside programs wanting to give their kids a chance to play in the Dean Smith Center. Haase had to pick 14 students out of a 70-student try-out camp to complete the junior varsity squad. Haase coached the JV team for three years to help prepare him for a head coaching job. Haase won 255 out of 317 games in nine seasons as an assistant coach for Roy Williams, with both Kansas and North Carolina.

UAB

On March 26, 2012, Haase was named head coach at UAB.

Haase managed to get UAB back to the big dance in his third year in Birmingham. The Blazers, a 14 seed, upset third-seeded Iowa State in the 2015 NCAA Tournament before losing to UCLA in the round of 32.

His final season saw the Blazers win a conference title, but a loss in the conference tournament relegated them to the NIT.

Stanford

On March 25, 2016, Haase was named head coach at Stanford University, replacing Johnny Dawkins.

Personal life

Jerod married Mindy Meidinger in 1999. In 2006 they had a son, Gavin; in 2009 another son, Garrett; and in 2012 a daughter, Gabrielle.