SAN DIEGO — The University of San Diego Toreros recently announced the hiring of nationally successful head coach Steve Lavin to lead the basketball program into the future. Lavin has guided UCLA and St. John's to eight NCAA Tournament appearances in 11 years. He has five Sweet 16 appearances and an Elite Eight appearance under his belt.
Lavin becomes the Toreros' 14th head coach in program history and the seventh head coach since USD moved to NCAA Division I in 1979.
"I'm thrilled to welcome Coach Lavin to the University of San Diego and can't wait for this exciting new era of Torero basketball to begin," said Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics Bill McGillis. "Coach Lavin's demonstrated record of success, including having led teams to eight NCAA Tournament appearances in 11 full seasons as a head coach, his positive inspirational leadership, and his deep west coast roots provide a foundation to catapult our program to new heights. While I know the powerful impact he will make on our campus and in our community, I am especially pleased for the young men in our program. The experience, expertise, passion and ability to connect that Coach Lavin will bring to USD will serve them for a lifetime."
Lavin has accumulated a record of 226-133 in his tenure as a college basketball head coach.
"I'm honored to have this opportunity of leading the University of San Diego men's basketball program," said Lavin. "Throughout my discussions with President Harris and Bill McGillis, I gained a greater respect for their vision of USD Athletics. My background living on the west coast, the rich history of WCC basketball, and the strong academic reputation of USD all made this an ideal fit from the beginning. I look forward to building relationships with the entire Toreros family as our program aspires towards excellence on and off the court."
Most recently, Lavin served as a national college basketball broadcaster for Fox Sports and CBS Sports. He previously worked with ESPN, ABC, and the Pac-12 Network.