Steve Lavin

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' 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 (10–19), Lavin was relieved of his duties as head coach.

Broadcasting career

Lavin initially began his broadcasting career in 2003. Soon after being fired from UCLA in 2003, Lavin signed a multi-year broadcasting deal with ABC and ESPN. For seven years, he made regular appearances on ESPN College GameNight and provided color-commentary alongside his partner Brent Musburger and Dave O'Brien at prime-time college games around the country. Lavin also contributed to ESPN coverage on the NBA draft.

Lavin has recently joined the Fox Sports and Pac-12 Network broadcasting teams as a college basketball 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 campaigns that led to NCAA appearances.

Lavin was the only St. John's head coach since legendary Lou Carnesecca to have achieved three seasons of 20 or more wins.

Lavin's first year at the helm resulted in a 21-12 overall record. The 21 wins was St. John’s highest number of victories since the 2002-03 season and the NCAA Tournament was the first since 2002.

Lavin inherited a team that finished in 13th place in the Big East Conference in 2009-10 at 6-12 into a squad that tied for third in 2010-11 at 12-6. Only twice before has a jump of such magnitude occurred 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, advancing the quarterfinals before falling on the road to Virginia.

In the 2013 - 2014 season, Lavin led the Red Storm to a 20-13 record finishing conference in a three-way 3rd place tie and an invitation to the NIT.

In 2014 - 15, Lavin led St. John’s to a 21-12 record and a second NCAA tournament appearance. This was Lavin's third season with 20 or more wins during his 5-year tenure at St. John's. Lavin directed the program to four post-season appearances highlighted by two NCAA Tournament berths.

Due to games Lavin missed from his cancer recovery (2011–12) and his Father's passing (2012–13), his cumulative record at St. John's was 81-53.

On March 27, 2015 St. John's and Lavin mutually agreed to part ways.

Awards/honors

NBA Players coached

Lavin has coached 18 players who went on to play in the NBA. During one stretch, from 1997 through 2006, Lavin had a player chose in ten consecutive NBA Drafts.

Philanthropic Involvement

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

∗ Missed games recovering from cancer surgery

∗∗ Missed games due to Father's passing