Toreros hire Steve Lavin as men’s basketball coach

Meet USD’s newest coach on campus 

JAREK MORGAN / ASST. SPORTS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

The University of San Diego Men’s Basketball team played a hard fought battle against the University of Portland in the West Coast Conference (WCC) tournament quarterfinals on March 4, in Las Vegas, NV. With a final score of 55-73, the Toreros saw their 2021-22 season come to a disappointing end. 

Within 48 hours, a difficult decision was made by USD Executive Director of Athletics Bill McGillis to let go of the team’s head coach, Sam Scholl, and his entire staff. 

The decision, however, was not unexpected, as San Diego finished the season 15-16, their third straight losing season in four under Scholl. 

And so the search began. After a 31 day process, it was announced by McGillis and the athletic department on April 7 on the USD athletics website that Steve Lavin would be the new men’s basketball head coach.  McGillis is confident he made the right decision to hire Lavin. 

“I very intentionally took the time to canvas the market place, study prospective candidates,” McGillis said. “The timeline of the media or of a candidate or the timeline of another institution has no bearing on making the right decision for the University of San Diego. It’s easy to hire a coach in two or three days. What’s really important is hiring the right coach.”  

Steve Lavin walked into the Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP) with a stellar resume in collegiate basketball. Lavin coached for seven seasons at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1996 to 2003. In those seven seasons, the Bruins took five trips to the Sweet 16 and one trip to the Elite Eight at the annual March Madness college basketball tournament. 

He was one of two coaches to take a team to five Sweet 16 appearances in six seasons. The other: Duke University’s recently retired and legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski. 

Lavin was fired by UCLA in 2003 after the Bruins finished 10-19. He then went on to become a broadcaster for seven years before beginning a five-year head coaching run at St. John’s University. St. John’s advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament and National Invitation Tournament (NIT) twice under Lavin. He finished his career at St. John’s with a loss to USD’s cross city rival San Diego State University (SDSU) in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. 

In sum, Lavin’s collegiate coaching experience to date: 12 seasons, eight NCAA tournaments, two NITs and a 237-150 overall record. 

Graduate student Jase Townsend had one word to say about Lavin’s resume: “Impressive.”

The presence of the strong leadership Lavin brings to the table has impacted USD’s athletes already. 

Sophomore guard Wayne McKinney III entered the NCAA transfer portal, the platform through which college athletes declare that they are looking for a new school, shortly after Sam Scholl was fired last month. Just one day after announcing the new head coach, McKinney, who started over 20 games last season, removed himself from the portal. 

“After I heard the big news, who we hired, the big hopes, I wanted to stay with this team and do some things,” McKinney said. “I liked what I heard and felt I needed to stay.” 

San Diego officially introduced Lavin as head coach to the campus and city community at a press conference on April 8. Prior to the press conference, players held individual meetings with Lavin. Townsend and McKinney were not the only ones impressed. 

“Real cool dude,” Joey Calcaterra said, USD’s third-leading scorer last season. “I’ve got high hopes and strong faith he’ll take this program where it needs to go.” 

Like McKinney, Calcaterra put his name in the transfer portal after Scholl’s firing. He said he’ll continue the recruiting process while considering returning. 

“(Lavin) said to do what’s best for me, and he’s rooting for me,” Calcaterra said. 

Prior to Steve Lavin, USD was  previously coached by Bill Grier, Lamont Smith, and Sam Scholl. None of the three previous coaches had any head coaching experience when they were hired by USD. This time, McGillis chose not only an experienced coach, but one who had familiar ties to the West Coast. 

“He’s a proven commodity,” McGillis said.

Following the hire, on April 6, Lavin took to Twitter before the official announcement had been made, in a tweet that was deleted for a brief moment.McGillis confirmed the hiring and Lavin restored the deleted tweet. 

“I think I told him his Twitter account got hacked,” McGillis joked. “He just decided to subtly share the good news before the rest of us.” 

Players, coaches, and sports media personalities also took to  social media with statements regarding the hire by USD. 

One of Lavin’s former players and current TV analyst, Sean Farnham, gave a personal reflection of just how much Lavin has impacted his life. 

In 2018, Farnham, who had not seen Lavin in three years, was delivering the eulogy for his father-in-law, who passed away after a 14-year bout with cancer. 

“As I got up there, looking at a packed church, I saw Steve Lavin sitting in the next-to-last row, on the aisle,” Farnham said. “I said, ‘Coach is here,’ and I just started crying. That’s the best way I can tell you that Steve Lavin is authentic, a true friend, a true teacher, a leader for life.” 

Legendary college basketball analyst Dick Vitale complemented the Torero program on the hire of Steve Lavin. 

“His energy and enthusiasm will be perfect in building this program,” Vitale said. 

With all eyes watching, USD may have just landed its best chance at returning to basketball glory in the WCC and beyond. The sky’s the limit for Torero basketball, and the current and future players at USD have a lot to look forward to. 

This program has so much potential, and with Lavin at the helm there is no telling what will happen in the coming seasons at the JCP.