SMU has hired Rob Lanier as its next men’s basketball head coach. Lanier just finished his third season as the head coach at Georgia State, where he led the Panthers to an 18-11 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Georgia State was a 16-seed and lost to No.1 overall seed Gonzaga in the first round.
“I couldn’t be more honored to lead the program on the Hilltop,” Lanier wrote in a statement. “SMU’s location in the heart of Dallas, Texas, the beautiful campus, stellar academic reputation, and overall commitment to excellence make it the perfect fit for me and my family. I’m excited to get to work and to take this program to the next level.”
Lanier has more than 30 years of experience as a college basketball coach, seven of which were as head coach. He was an assistant at the universities of Tennessee, Texas, and Florida. Lanier has had the opportunity to work for some of the game’s most respected coaches. At Texas and Tennessee, he assisted under Rick Barnes, and at Florida, he was an assistant under Billy Donovan.
Lanier was the head coach at Siena College in New York from 2001 to 2005. He would not get another head coaching opportunity until Georgia State hired him for the 2019 season. He said he learned a lot between his head coaching stints.
“When it came time that I knew I was going to have another chance to be a head coach, I made a commitment to myself that the young people that I coach will not experience self-doubt. That you will be empowered, you will play with great confidence, and I will be your biggest supporter if you work,” he said.
“Rob is an excellent coach and has been mentored by some of the game’s best in Rick Barnes and Billy Donovan,” SMU Athletic Director Rick Hart wrote in a statement. “He and his staff will build upon the success our program has experienced under Coach Brown and Coach Jankovich. As importantly, his character, integrity, and commitment to developing our student-athletes as both players and people align with our mission of Shaping Champions. Our conversations with individuals in the basketball community only reinforced our belief that Rob Lanier is the right leader for SMU basketball.”
Lanier is taking over for Tim Jankovich, who retired after seven seasons in charge of the Mustangs. Last season, Jankovich led SMU to a 24-9 record and a second-place finish in the American Athletic Conference but narrowly missed earning a tournament berth. The Mustangs were the third team left out of the NCAA Tournament and were invited instead to the NIT tournament. SMU was eliminated in the second round of the NIT. The last time the Mustangs made the NCAA tournament was in 2017.
Lanier hopes to make the Mustangs a mainstay in the NCAA tournament. He has shown his ability to recruit the Dallas area well in his time with the Longhorns.
He was the primary recruiter of Euless Trinity’s Myles Turner, who played for the Longhorns and now is a member of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.
“Rob is one of those coaches who will genuinely have an impact on his guys on and off the floor,” Turner wrote in a statement. “His hiring is something I see as beneficial for the culture, and I’m excited for him to be here in Dallas!”
Lanier is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and has a career 111-100 record as a head coach. As a player at St. Bonaventure in the late 80s, Lanier scored 868 career points and was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Freshman Team. He is also the cousin of Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, who was an eight-time NBA All-Star in the 70s and 80s for the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks.
