Steve Lavin is an ESPN college basketball analyst, having rejoined the network after spending the 2003-10 seasons with ESPN. Prior to his time as a television analyst, Lavin spent more than 15 years as a Division I coach at UCLA and Purdue.
At Purdue, Lavin was part of Gene Keady’s men’s basketball coaching staff (1988-91). In his combined stints at Purdue and UCLA, Lavin helped lead teams to 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (1990-2002).
As head coach at UCLA from 1996-2003, Lavin compiled a record of 145-78. In his first season as head coach, Lavin directed the Bruins to the 1997 Pac-10 Championship and the NCAA Elite Eight as well as six consecutive seasons of 20-plus wins and six consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
He is frequently invited to be a keynote speaker throughout the country for business, community and collegiate events. He addresses a wide range of topics, including effective communication, motivation, management, recruiting, leadership and, naturally, college basketball.
In his seven years as UCLA head coach (1996-2003), Lavin led the Bruins to six 20-plus-win seasons and six straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including five trips to the Sweet 16. From 1985, when the NCAA Tournament field was expanded, and through his last season in 2002-03, Lavin (2002, ’01, ’00, 1998, ’97) and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski are the only two coaches to take their teams to the Sweet 16 five times in six years.
In 2001, after the Bruins finished 23-9, Lavin was honored with the Pac-10 Coach of the Year award. He is the only head coach in NCAA Men’s Basketball history to lead his team to victory against the No. 1 team in the country in four consecutive collegiate seasons (Stanford in 2000, Stanford in ’01, Kansas in ’02, Arizona in ’03). He also was part of UCLA’s coaching staff with the 1995 national championship team.
As a player, Lavin transferred to Chapman University from San Francisco State in 1984. He captained the Chapman men’s basketball team in his senior season (1986-87).