Former Tennessee Assistant Named UCF Women's Basketball Coach
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The UCF women's basketball team named former Tennessee assistant Gabe Lazo as the Knights' new coach.
The move comes five days after UCF mutually parted ways with Lazo's predecessor, Sytia Messer, after four seasons, and four days after Lazo was initially announced to be joining coach Kim Mulkey's staff at LSU.
Sunshine State native coming home ☀️🌴
— UCF Women's Hoops (@UCF_WBB) April 4, 2026
Welcome to UCF, @CoachGabeLazo pic.twitter.com/EoivmvZf93
Instead of moving to Baton Rouge, Lazo is going to take his first head coaching job at the college level after nine years as an assistant.
“Gabe represents what we were looking for in the next leader of our women’s basketball program,” UCF athletic director Mohajir said in a statement. “He’s a proven competitor at every level of the game, with deep Florida roots, an elite ability to connect with people, and a track record of developing student-athletes on and off the court."
Stamped!@TerryMohajirAD | #GKCO https://t.co/aE0bWfxJ74 pic.twitter.com/uLZng5P47v
— UCF Women's Hoops (@UCF_WBB) April 4, 2026
In two seasons at Tennessee under coach Kim Caldwell, Lazo helped the Lady Volunteers to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16. It was his second job with an SEC school after spending the two seasons before that under Sam Purcell at Mississippi State. He helped the Bulldogs reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023, followed by helping recruit the No. 3 transfer class ahead of the 2023-24 season, a campaign that ended in the quarterfinals of the WBIT.
“He has been an invaluable member of two SEC staffs with an unbelievable ability to teach the game and recruit the best players in the country," LSU coach Kim Mulkey said in a statement on Tuesday when Lazo was added to her staff.
According to Lazo's profile on Tennessee's athletics website, he served as Mississippi State's "designated defensive coordinator," a role that becomes understandable when looking at his coaching career in the seasons before he entered the SEC. He was hired by the Lady Bulldogs after spending the 2021-22 season at George Washington, a season in which, despite going 13-18, the Revolutionaries still ended up with the 16th-best scoring defense in the nation and the second-best in the Atlantic 10.
During Lazo's two-season stint at Stony Brook, the Caroline McComb-led squad went 43-9 with an America East regular season title in 2019-20 and an America East Tournament title in 2021 that earned the program its first NCAA Tournament bid in program history. The Seawolves finished those seasons ranked 11th in the nation in scoring defense in 2019-20 and then fourth in 2020-21.
Lazo's arrival in Orlando is going to mark his first time coaching in the state of Florida since he began his coaching career in the Miami area. After playing two seasons on the Florida International men's basketball team and two seasons at Barry, a Division 2 school based in Miami Shores, Lazo began his coaching career as the coach of the girls' varsity basketball team at John A. Ferguson Senior High School, also in Miami. His five seasons there helped earn him his first collegiate coaching job as an assistant for FIU's women's basketball team, a position he held from 2017 to 2019.
"As a Florida native, this opportunity means a great deal to me," Lazo said in a statement. "I look forward to building meaningful relationships with our student-athletes, competing at a high level in the Big 12, and making Knight Nation proud.”
Let's compete 🤝 @CoachGabeLazo pic.twitter.com/kT9jxOEMlO
— UCF Women's Hoops (@UCF_WBB) April 4, 2026
Lazo does not have long to settle into his new role as the women's basketball transfer portal is set to officially open on April 6.
“His vision for UCF, his love for the state, combined with his energy and ability to connect, make him the right leader at the right time in today’s college landscape," Mohajir said. "We’re confident he will build a program capable of competing for Big 12 championships while developing young women to succeed long after their playing careers.”
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Bryson Turner is a sports journalist who covers UCF Athletics. Turner has contributed to the Black and Gold Banneret, the home for UCF Athletics on SB Nation. He has called the Orlando area home since the age of 8 and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from UCF.
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