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| Lorenzo Romar | |
|---|---|
| Name | Lorenzo Romar |
| Birth date | 14 May 1958 |
| Birth place | Compton, California |
| Alma mater | University of Hawaii at Manoa; Saint Monica High School |
| Occupation | Basketball coach; former basketball player |
| Years active | 1976–present |
Lorenzo Romar is an American college basketball coach and former professional player known for his tenure as a head coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball and previous playing career in National Basketball Association developmental circuits and overseas. He gained prominence as head coach at the University of Washington and later at Saint Louis University (assistant) and returned to Pacific as head coach, influencing programs across the Pac-12 Conference, West Coast Conference, and Big West Conference. Romar's career spans associations with notable figures and institutions such as Rick Pitino, Bob Huggins, Don Haskins, Hank Gathers, and professional teams in Italy and Continental Basketball Association.
Born in Compton, California, Romar attended Saint Monica High School in Santa Monica, California where he played varsity basketball and graduated into recruiting interest from multiple colleges including UCLA, USC, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Washington State University. He enrolled at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and starred for the Rainbow Warriors under coach Frank Arnold, earning All-Western Athletic Conference honors and drawing comparisons to contemporaries such as Paul Westphal, Kiki Vandeweghe, and Rolando Blackman. After college, Romar played professionally in the NBA training camps and summer leagues, had stints in the Continental Basketball Association with teams akin to the Albany Patroons and La Crosse Catbirds, and played internationally in Italy and clubs that frequently competed against squads from Spain, France, and Turkey.
Romar transitioned to coaching as an assistant under prominent collegiate coaches including George Raveling and later spent time with Seattle Pacific University and Pepperdine University programs. He served on staffs in conferences such as the Pac-10 Conference and worked with future head coaches like Ben Howland, Mark Few, and Mike Montgomery. Romar's assistant roles connected him to recruitment pipelines involving McDonald's All-American Game standouts, Nike EYBL prospects, and high school programs in Southern California, Washington (state), and Hawaii. He was part of coaching trees linked to Jerry Tarkanian-era movements and interacted with professional basketball figures from the NBA including Jerry West, Pat Riley, and Phil Jackson through clinics and summer camps.
Romar's first major head coaching appointment came at the University of Washington, where he succeeded coaches in a lineage including Marv Harshman and Bob Bender; during his Washington tenure he recruited and coached players who progressed to the NBA such as Brandon Roy, Nate Robinson, Jon Brockman, and DeAngelo Casto. Under his leadership the Huskies earned multiple NCAA Tournament bids, played in the Pac-10 Tournament, and competed against programs like UCLA, Arizona, Oregon, and USC. After his Washington era, Romar joined Saint Louis University as an assistant before becoming head coach at the Pacific Tigers, succeeding predecessors in the West Coast Conference and competing against schools including Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, and Loyola Marymount. Across these tenures his teams participated in postseason tournaments such as the National Invitation Tournament and faced nonconference foes like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas.
Romar's coaching philosophy emphasizes guard play, perimeter shooting, and defensive pressure drawing from influences including John Wooden-era fundamentals, Dean Smith's motion concepts, and modern uptempo systems associated with coaches like Rick Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski. He is noted for talent development that has produced NBA draft entrants and international professionals who have joined organizations such as Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Chicago Bulls. Romar integrates scouting techniques used in EuroLeague contexts and analytics trends popularized in Moneyball-era sports management and adapts gameplans against schemes like the Princeton offense and Dribble drive motion offense. His recruiting networks span California, Washington (state), Oregon, and Hawaii, and he frequently competes with recruiters from Arizona State University, University of Oregon, University of California, Los Angeles, and University of Southern California for elite prospects.
Romar's personal life intersects with community engagement in Seattle, Washington, Los Angeles, and Honolulu, Hawaii through youth camps, charitable clinics, and university outreach programs connected to institutions like Seattle University and University of Hawaii Foundation. His legacy includes mentoring assistants who became head coaches in conferences such as the Pac-12 Conference and West Coast Conference and influencing players who represented United States men's national basketball team development camps and international competitions like the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Honors and recognition in his career relate to conference coach awards, program rebuilds, and contributions to the broader coaching community alongside contemporaries such as Tubby Smith, Billy Donovan, and Tom Izzo.
Category:Living people Category:1958 births Category:American men's basketball coaches Category:College basketball coaches in the United States Category:Basketball players from California