Gabe Lazo has been at the center of controversy ever since the offseason began. First, he resigned from his position as an assistant coach at Tennesee after being a major part of their recruiting. Since his departure, the roster count went down to zero as coach Kim Caldwell continued to remain under fire. Caldwell lost the locker room because of multiple controversies over the course of the season. Then, Kim Mulkey hired him to replace Gary Redus on her staff. But, after mere days of that announcement, Lazo left to become a head coach at UCF.
“Gabe represents what we were looking for in the next leader of our women’s basketball program,” UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir said. UCF is coming off a difficult few years under Sytia Masser. They never reached the NCAA Tournament under her and have been a sub-0.500 team for the last 4 years. They finished 11-19 overall and 3-15 in the Big 12 this past season. The team has not kept up with the Big 12 standards and now expects to improve under Lazo. At his introductory conference, Lazo explained the kind of head coach he will be.
“I’m extremely demanding as a coach,” He told the media. “I’m very passionate, but I’m never going to lie to you. I’m going to be honest, and that’s something I think we lack a lot in this profession, in these leadership roles.”
This statement especially raises eyebrows on the back of the aftermath of his departure at Tennessee. A report from an insider, Will West, initially claimed that it was either Lazo or Roman Tubner who undermined Kim Caldwell during the season. However, many Volunteers hit back at those claims and backed their former coach.
“Neither coach that is no longer with the program deserves to be talked about in this way. The accusations are false, and both men positively impacted us during our time at Tennessee,” Junior Alyssa Latham wrote. Even Kim Mulkey, who could have been upset that her hire left within days, was only happy for Lazo.
“I’m so happy for Gabe,” Mulkey told The Advocate in a phone interview. “How could you not be happy for someone to be a head coach for the first time and to do it in his home state?” So it seems there are more positive opinions on Lazo than negative. His former recruit has echoed his honesty ethos, as Five-star freshman Jaida Civil has said he’s constantly saying ‘no fakey fakey stuff,’ and he lives by it every day. Even UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir emphasized this same quality while detailing Lazo’s personal connection to the program.
“He was just very authentic. He got emotional talking about his mom,” Mohajir said. “I’m not going to tell you, but he’s got a backstory. You’ll have to ask him about it sometime about how he grew up, and it was a lot like a lot of students that I’ve — former alumni and students that I’ve talked to since I’ve been here. It’s the story. It’s the UCF story.”
Lazo played college basketball at FIU and Division II Barry College after starring at Miami Senior High. For five years, he coached John A. Ferguson Senior High School in his hometown and guided them to two regional championships and state runner-up finishes. This makes him a lot more relatable to the UCF players for them to buy in and completely trust his ideas.
Gabe Lazo Lays Out His Stylistic Idea For UCF As A “Blue-Collar” Team
This is Gabe Lazo’s first job as a college head coach. He joined Caroline McCombs as an assistant coach at Stony Brook and George Washington. In 2022, he joined Sam Purcell’s inaugural staff at Mississippi State. Through his college career, he has largely been seen as a “player developer” and an elite recruiter. At Tennessee, he worked for Caldwell’s press heavy and three dependent systems that had many quick rotations. However, his own ideas are a little different.
“We’re going to be a blue-collar team. We’re going to take charges. We’re going to dive for loose balls,” Lazo said. “We’re going to defend. We’re going to rebound. All the controllables, we’re going to do them. We’re going to play with great energy, great effort, and great enthusiasm. Offensively, we’re going to play much faster, so we have to get in better shape.”
For context, Tennessee was the 70th best rebounding team with 39.4 rebounds per game. Lazo is fixating on defense as the focus rather than the offense, aligning to teams like South Carolina who play with physicality and intensity. From last year’s UCF squad, Khyala Ngodu averaged 10.8 points and 7 rebounds and could be a key piece for him.
From his old team, Talaysia Cooper could emerge as a key target. She averaged 16 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, the third-highest on the team. She led the Volunteers with 78 steals, finishing among the top 10 in the SEC. The team building is still at a nascent stage but Gabe Lazo has certainly stamped his authority on his arrival at UCF.
