We're extremely excited to have Fox Sports Men's College Basketball Analyst, CBS Sports (during March Madness), and former Men's basketball head coach of UCLA and St John's Steve Lavin join us today in the first of a two-part episode. We kick off the episode talking about playing basketball in high school and how before the era of YouTube, cell phone cameras, and a million sports networks how you would get exposure with college scouts.
Next, we talk about his transition into the coaching world and how he wrote letters to legendary coaches like Bob Knight, Gene Keady, and Jerry Tarkanian for advice on how to break into the ranks of coaching. Steve eventually was hired as an assistant at D.J.'s alma mater, Purdue University under the legendary coach Gene Keady. While at Purdue, Steve talks about coaching a young Matt Painter, who is currently having a great coaching career at Purdue, and meeting the legendary Coach John Wooden (also an alumna of Purdue University).
Ultimately his relationship with Coach Wooden resulted in him taking an Assistant Coach position at UCLA under former coach Jim Herrick. We finish out part one talking about the 1995 National Championship season and Tyus Edney's famous buzzer-beater against Mizzou in 1995 and a little-known story about Steve's celebration after the buzzer.
Check back again next week for Part 2 as we talk about how a recruiting scandal led to him becoming the head coach at UCLA, along with Coach Wooden's support, moving to television, and being diagnosed with prostate cancer while coaching at St John's University.
Be sure to follow Steve on social media and check him out on Fox Sports during the college basketball season!
Check out the video of this interview and don't forget to hit the subscribe button over at our YouTube channel!
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