Lavin Gets the Gig : Interim Status Is Replaced by 4-Year Vote of Confidence

The sleepless nights are over for Steve Lavin.

No more tossing and turning, wondering if he would be UCLA’s basketball coach for longer than this bumpy season.

Lavin got the job Tuesday, along with a four-year contract through the 2001 season. Terms were not disclosed.

“I’m thrilled,” he said at a campus news conference held in the same room where he was named interim coach after Jim Harrick was fired on Nov. 6.

“You just don’t imagine that your first job is going to be the Yankees of college basketball,” Lavin, 32, said.

That kind of reverence for UCLA’s 11 NCAA championships, along with a strong sense of discipline, made Lavin the choice of Athletic Director Peter Dalis and Chancellor Charles Young.

“The time is right for Steve,” Dalis said. “He brings a stability and integrity to the program.”

Young added, “What Steve Lavin has done since I’ve been at this table three months ago is unbelievable.”

The season started with a first-round preseason NIT loss to Tulsa. It got worse with a 96-83 loss to No. 1 Kansas, in which the Bruins were booed by their own fans for trailing by 28 points, and then reached the lowest point in a 48-point loss to Stanford.

Since then, Lavin has guided the 24th-ranked Bruins (13-7) to a first-place tie with USC in the Pacific-10 Conference with an 8-3 record.

In the process, he hasn’t been afraid to bench starters for being late or throw them out of practice, as he did with forward J.R. Henderson last month.

“It was a big adjustment,” forward Charles O’Bannon said. “We weren’t used to that type of discipline, but I think that the best way to coach is holding the players accountable for their actions. This is his program.”

Dalis believed UCLA’s players were too arrogant under Harrick, and he likes the way Lavin has toned down their on-court body language.

“I’ve told Steve any time he wants to sit all the starters down and we lose a game, that’s all right with me,” he said.

O’Bannon said he and point guard Cameron Dollar endorsed Lavin’s hiring, although they will graduate this spring.

Speculation swirled after Harrick’s firing that if Lavin wasn’t hired, underclassmen Toby Bailey, Henderson and Jelani McCoy might leave for the NBA.

“All the underclassmen told me they’re returning,” Lavin said. “It’s satisfying to know those players are coming back. We’ll have better rebounding. . . . we’ll have a heck of a season next year.”

The greatest effect of retaining Lavin will be on recruiting. The Bruins’ only signee last fall was guard Earl Watson of Kansas City.

Baron Davis, considered the top point guard prospect in the nation, decided to wait until spring after Harrick was fired for repeatedly lying about an expense report.

Now Davis, a senior at Santa Monica Crossroads High, may follow up on his oral commitment and sign a letter of intent.

“It kicks our recruiting efforts into high gear,” Lavin said. “That’s where the biggest difference will be felt. People now realize there’s a new era of UCLA basketball.”

Lavin said he expects to sign five or six players, but NCAA rules prevent him from discussing prospects.

Although things are looking up for the Bruins, they’ve endured one of the most volatile seasons in Westwood in years.

They’re back in the rankings this week for the first time in two months, but they have no significant non-conference victories.

Then there was the 48-point loss at Stanford on Jan. 9, the worst in UCLA history. But it didn’t dissuade Dalis, who saw the Bruins bounce back with an 87-68 rout of Stanford last Saturday.

“I was very concerned about it,” he said. “But you don’t look at one game and make a decision about someone.”

When Harrick was fired in November, Dalis said he wouldn’t name a permanent coach until after the season. He said he had informal discussions with other candidates, but refused to identify them.

“It’s a personal relief. There’s been a lot of tension since Nov. 6 about the program and where it’s going to go,” Dalis said.

“Steve inherited a situation that was very, very difficult. His values are extremely important to me. I hope we have him here a long time.”