Jim Saia, ex-Drake High and College of Marin player

From Hoop Dirt: "Word on the street is that the top two choices, Musselman (an alum), and former Cavs and Lakers head coach Mike Brown (also an alum), have both politely passed on this one. I have heard that USD is now using Carr for their search, and have begun to identify candidates. One name that has started to emerge here is Cal State San Marcos head coach Jim Saia. The former USC and UCLA assistant has also been the head coach at Fresno Pacific."

-- Always love to see a lower level coach receive consideration. Cal State San Marcos just finished its season with a 30-4 record, having reached the NAIA National Quarterfinals. Last year, it was a 32-2 record.

Saia's official bio:

"Jim Saia completed his third year as the Cal State San Marcos head men’s basketball coach in 2013-14, his 25th season coaching basketball. Saia became the school’s first-ever head coach on May 25, 2010, tasked with building a program from scratch in his third stint as head coach on the four-year college level.

The 2013-14 squad will be one for the record books. The Cougars went 32-2 overall, spent seven straight weeks at No. 1 and at one point won 23 consecutive games. CSUSM advanced to the NAIA quarterfinals before falling to eventual national runner-up Emmanuel (Ga.). De'End Parker became the program's first-ever first team All-American while Malcolm Lemmons was named to the honorable mention squad.

The Cougars played exhibitions against NCAA Division I stalwarts UCLA and San Diego State, in addition to Nevada and CSU Bakersfield. Saia had four players named to the All-Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) First Team and Jose Rivera became the program's second All-American. CSUSM finished the year fourth in NAIA DI in field goal percentage (.493), assists per game (17.667) and assist/turnover ration (1.366); fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.390); seventh in scoring margin (+14.6); ninth in steals (320) and total assists (530); and 10th in scoring offense per game (83.23) and steals per game (10.667).

Known as a skilled recruiter and offensive mastermind, Saia came to CSUSM with 14 years of coaching experience on the NCAA Division I level, including a seven-year tenure as the top assistant coach at UCLA and one year at the University of Southern California. Saia has helped over 15 players onto rosters of NBA teams, including veterans Baron Davis, Earl Watson, Jason Kapono, Nick Young and Matt Barnes.

Saia hit the ground running after inheriting a program that existed solely on paper. He attracted a crop of NCAA Division I and junior college standouts to join him at San Marcos, and immediately scheduled three exhibitions against NCAA DI programs. The CSUSM men’s basketball program’s first-ever game would be an exhibition against San Diego State at Viejas Arena, with the Aztecs coming off an appearance in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and a 2010-11 season in which they were ranked as high as No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25. The Cougars also faced UNLV and BYU.

Prior to arriving at CSUSM, Saia spent three seasons as head coach at Fresno Pacific University (2007-10), where he led the Sunbirds to a 70-29 overall record, two appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, and a Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) title in 2008-09 with a school-record 26 victories. Two of his Sunbird players were named NAIA All-Americans and Saia earned 2009 GSAC Coach of the Year honors.

Prior to coming to Fresno Pacific, Saia spent the 2004-05 season at the University of Southern California. Originally an assistant coach, Saia was named interim head coach when Henry Bibby was dismissed four games into the season. The Trojans would finish 10-15 that season, but Saia played a vital role in the development of eventual NBA talents Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt. USC advanced to the Sweet 16 two years later, and Young and Pruitt were drafted by the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics, respectively.

Saia came to USC after seven years (1997-2003) as an assistant coach at UCLA, where he helped the Bruins advance to the Elite Eight (1997) and make five Sweet 16 appearances (1998-2002). UCLA won 20 or more games in each of his first six years there.

He was the offensive coordinator from 2000-2002, helping direct one of most potent offenses in the Pac-10. UCLA led the conference in field goal percentage (48.0%) in 2000 and was second in three-point percentage (37.1%). In 2001, the Bruins were second in three-point percentage (35.5%) and third in scoring (79.5). In 2002, UCLA was second in both field goal (47.2%) and three-point (39.0%) percentage.

In his three years as coordinator, UCLA posted its most prolific three-point totals ever, making a school record 223 in 2002, 205 in 2000 and 190 in 2001. The 2002 Bruin team also posted the second-highest single game field goal percentage mark in school history when it shot 72.9% against South Carolina.

Saia's Bruin coaching successes carried over into recruiting, where his talents assisted UCLA in landing the nation's No. 1 (2001, 1998) and No. 2 (1997) ranked recruiting classes. Saia coached 10 Bruins who went on to the NBA, including Davis, Watson, Kapono, Dan Gadzuric, and Jerome Moiso.

Before coming to Westwood, Saia was the head coach at Columbia College, a junior college in Sonora, Calif., from 1994-96. During his two-year head coaching career at Columbia, he ­­led the Claim Jumpers to a 61-10 (87.0) overall record, two Central Valley Conference (CVC) championships and he earned two CVC Coach of the Year honors. In 1996, Columbia advanced to the Final Eight in California junior college play and ended the season ranked No. 3 with a 30-5 overall record. Saia’s ’95 club was rated No. 7 in the State and finished with an overall record of 31-5. His two-year conference mark was 25-3. Every sophomore on Saia’s Columbia teams graduated or pursued their education at a four-year college. When Saia took over the Columbia program in 1994, the Claim Jumpers had no returning starters and he only had six weeks to recruit a team. His 1994-95 squad, picked for last place in the coaches’ preseason poll, finished with a 31-5 overall record.

Prior to his head coaching stint at Columbia, Saia, was an assistant coach at the Div. I level for Gary Colson at Fresno State (1990-94, earning a Master’s degree) in the Big West and Western Athletic Conferences, Tates Locke at Indiana State (1989-90) in the Missouri Valley Conference and Lou Campanelli at California (1988-89) in the Pac-10. During his years at Fresno State, the Bulldogs were 21-11 overall and advanced to the NIT in 1994; in 1991, FSU was runner-up in the Big West Tournament. While at Cal in 1989, the Golden Bears were 20-13 overall and also played in the NIT.

In 1994, Saia was head coach of the Athletes In Action USA team and in 1993 he coached AIA’s Div. I summer tour squad.

A respected clinician, Saia was director of the Fresno State Camp from 1990-94 and has toured the country lecturing at clinics about individual offensive and defensive skills.

As a player, Saia’s basketball career began at Sir Francis Drake High in San Anselmo, Calif. During Saia’s junior and senior seasons in 1981 and ’82, Sir Francis Drake was 65-1 overall and won two California state championships. From 1982-84, he played at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and helped lead the Mustangs to a 20-win season. Saia spent the 1984-85 college season at College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif., leading the Mariners to the state tournament and earning all-conference honors. He concluded his college career at Chapman University. From 1985-87 at Chapman, Saia earned Best Defensive Player and Coaches Awards."