Jim Saia

James Sebastian Saia (born June 15, 1964) is an American men's basketball player and coach. Saia is currently the men's head basketball coach at California State University, Los Angeles.[1]

Jim Saia
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamCal State Los Angeles
ConferenceCCAA
Biographical details
Born (1964-06-15) June 15, 1964
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Playing career
1982–1984Cal Poly
1984–1985College of Marin
1985–1987Chapman
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1988–1989California (asst.)
1989–1990Indiana State (asst.)
1990–1994Fresno State (asst.)
1994–1996Columbia JC
1996–2003UCLA (asst.)
2004–2005USC (asst./interim HC)
2006–2007Citrus CC (asst.)
2007–2010Fresno Pacific
2010Los Angeles Sparks (asst.)
2010–2016Cal State San Marcos
2016–presentCal State Los Angeles
Head coaching record
Overall275–172 (college)
61–10 (junior college)

High school career

Born in San Francisco, Saia prepped at Sir Francis Drake High in San Anselmo, California and graduated in 1982.[2] He was a member of the basketball team that won the 1982 California state championship with a 34–0 record. There, he was teammates with future UCLA coach Steve Lavin.

College career

Saia started his college basketball playing career at Cal Poly in the 1983–84 season, after redshirting a year. That season, he averaged 1.2 points and 0.4 rebounds in 19 games.[3] He then transferred to College of Marin for the 1984–85 season and finished at Chapman University for his final two years, where he would join his childhood friend Steve Lavin. Saia graduated from Chapman in 1987.[2]

Coaching career

Saia began his coaching career as an assistant under Lou Campanelli at California in the 1988–89 season then was an assistant at Indiana State in the 1989–90 season and Fresno State from 1990 to 1994.[4]

From 1994 to 1996, Saia was head coach at Columbia College, a junior college in Sonora, California. He led Columbia to a 61–10 cumulative record, two Central Valley Conference titles, and an appearance in the Final Eight round of the 1996 CCCAA tournament.[2]

Saia then returned to the Division I level as an assistant at UCLA under Steve Lavin, a position for which Saia stayed from 1996 until 2003, after Lavin was fired. At UCLA, Saia coached future NBA players like Baron Davis, Earl Watson, Jason Kapono, and Matt Barnes.[4]

Originally an assistant in the 2004–05 season, Saia took over as interim head coach at USC after the firing of Henry Bibby in December. USC went 10–15 for the rest of the season under Saia.[5][2]

Saia returned to the junior college ranks as an assistant coach at Citrus in the 2006-07 season. From 2007 to 2010, Saia was head coach at Fresno Pacific, an NAIA school at the time. At Fresno Pacific, Saia had a 70–29 overall record with two NAIA Tournament appearances.[4]

Saia was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Sparks during the 2010 season.

On May 25, 2010, Cal State San Marcos hired Saia as its inaugural men's basketball head coach. The program's first season was in 2011–12, in which Cal State San Marcos competed in the NAIA level and advanced to the Association of Independent Institutions (AII) title game. In the 2012-13 season, Saia led Cal State San Marcos to its first appearance in the NAIA Tournament. Cal State San Marcos later had two straight seasons with 30 or more wins in 2013–14 and 2014–15, and Saia won AII Coach of the Year honors both seasons.[4] Saia coached at Cal State San Marcos through the 2015–16 season, its first in the NCAA Division II level and California Collegiate Athletic Association and in which the team finished 15–12.[4]

Cal State Los Angeles hired Saia as head coach on June 6, 2016.[6]

Head coaching record

Junior college
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Columbia Claim Jumpers (Central Valley Conference) (1994–1995)
1994–95 Columbia (CA) 31–5 ?1stCCCAA Tournament
1995–96 Columbia (CA) 30–5 ?1stCCCAA Final Eight
Columbia (CA): 61–10 (.859)25–3(.893)
Total:61–10 (.859)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

College
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
USC Trojans (Pacific-10 Conference) (2004–2005)
2004–05 USC# 10–155–1310th
USC: 10–15 (.400)5–13 (.278)
Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (Golden State Athletic Conference) (2007–2010)
2007–08 Fresno Pacific 19–1210–106th
2008–09 Fresno Pacific 26–818–21stNAIA First Round
2009–10 Fresno Pacific 25–913–74thNAIA Second Round
Fresno Pacific: 70–29 (.707)41–19 (.683)
Cal State San Marcos Cougars (NAIA independent) (2011–2015)
2011–12 Cal State San Marcos 19–12
2012–13 Cal State San Marcos 23–7NAIA First Round
2013–14 Cal State San Marcos 32–2NAIA Quarterfinals
2014–15 Cal State San Marcos 30–4NAIA Quarterfinals
Cal State San Marcos Cougars (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (2015–2016)
2015–16 Cal State San Marcos 15–1211–96th
Cal State San Marcos: 119–37 (.763)11–9 (.550)
Cal State LA Golden Eagles (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (2016–present)
2016–17 Cal State LA 14–169–118th
2017–18 Cal State LA 13–169–139th
2018–19 Cal State LA 18–1213–98th
2019–20 Cal State LA 13–168–148th
2020–21 Cal State LA 0–00–0
2021–22 Cal State LA 7–144–1110th
2022–23 Cal State LA 11–178–14T–9th
Cal State LA: 76–91 (.455)51–72 (.415)
Total:275–172 (.615)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

# Henry Bibby fired midseason. Jim Saia finished season as interim head coach.

Personal

Saia and his wife, Stacey, have three daughters and a son.[4]

Saia is close friends with Steve Lavin, having played on the same team with him at Sir Francis Drake High School and Chapman University, and served as an assistant coach when Lavin was UCLA's head coach.

References
  1. 2009-2010 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff, FPUathletics.com
  2. "Jim Saia". USC. Archived from the original on March 9, 2005. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  3. Final 1984 Men's Basketball Statistics Report: Cal Poly
  4. "Jim Saia". Cal State San Marcos. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  5. "2004-05 USC Trojans Roster and Stats". Archived from the original on 2016-09-02.
  6. "Jim Saia Named New Men's Basketball Coach". Cal State LA. June 6, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
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