Steve Lavin hired as San Diego men's basketball coach

Steve Lavin, who has coached at UCLA and St. John's, was hired Wednesday night to take over the struggling program at San Diego.

Lavin takes over for Sam Scholl, who was fired in March after three straight losing seasons. Since Brad Holland was fired after going 18-14 in 2007, San Diego has had just four winning seasons and one NCAA tournament appearance.

Lavin had been a candidate since the beginning of the search, according to the athletic director.

I think it is a great alignment. I think we have a chance to catapult to new heights under his leadership, said McGillis, who had dinner with Lavin near campus on Wednesday night.

Lavin was a head coach at UCLA for seven seasons. He made four Sweet 16 appearances and took the Bruins to the Elite Eight in his first season. He was fired after UCLA went 10-19 in 2002, the only season he didn't get the Bruins into the NCAAs.

He was 92-72 at St. John's from 2010 to 2015, with two NCAA tournament berths and two NIT appearances. Lavin left St. John's after going 21-12. The season ended with a loss to San Diego State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Lavin has worked as a college basketball analyst.

I considered a lot of great coaches, but I just felt that he was the best fit for elevating the level of success on the court.

Lavin updated his bio with theUSDMBB Head Coach before he deleted it. Lavin restored that line after the hiring was confirmed.

I think I told him that his account was hacked.