On Wednesday, University of Washington Athletics Director Jennifer Cohen announced the firing of head men’s basketball coach Lorenzo Romar.
Romar, who had just completed his 15th season at UW, lifted the Husky basketball program to an elite level and unprecedented success. Under his leadership, the program had six NCAA tournament appearances, three Sweet 16’s, three Pac-10 tournament championships, two regular season Pac-10/12 titles and three NIT’s that included a semifinal appearance in 2012.
During his second season, Romar orchestrated a spectacular turnaround as UW posted a 19-12 record in 2004 and participated in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999. In 2004, Romar guided the Huskies to their first second-place regular-season finish since 1986 and their first Pac-10 Tournament championship game appearance since 1987.
From 2004-2005 to 2014-15, the Huskies won 225 games, the most ever in a 10-year span of U-Dub basketball history. He has averaged 20.6 wins per season during his 14-year UW career and has amassed four of the seven largest single-season win totals in UW history. Romar has six 20-win seasons under his tenure — a mark that only trails Hec Edmundson’s 11 seasons with 20+ wins.
However, this year there Huskies were 9-22 and failed to make the NCAA tournament for he sixth straight year.
“After evaluating our men’s basketball program, I have determined that a change in leadership is necessary,” Cohen said. “Today is particularly difficult because Coach Romar is such a beloved member of our University community. I want to thank Lorenzo and his family for 15 years of dedicated service and sacrifice to our University.”
According to Cohen, a national search will begin immediately to identify the Huskies’ next head coach.
Romar finishes his UW career as the second-winningest coach in school history, compiling a record of 298-196 at UW. His 2005 team finished with a 29-6 overall record, tying the highest win total in school history and earning Washington’s first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He led the Huskies to a number of program firsts, including back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances (2005, 2006) and consecutive conference tournament championships (2010, 2011).
“As a former student-athlete, and an alum of the University of Washington, this is definitely not an easy day for me. I was really looking forward to coaching our team next year and beyond. However, God had a different plan,” Romar said. “I am proud of a lot of things we were able to accomplish in the 15 years that we were here. I want to thank all of the coaches, players and staff who have played a part in that success. I will always support the University of Washington, and pull for the Huskies.”
During his time at UW, Romar was named conference coach of the year three times, and guided the Huskies to three regular-season conference crowns and three conference tournament championships. He was honored at the 2006 Final Four as the recipient of the John Wooden “Keys to Life” Award.
A native of Compton, Calif., Romar was a two-year starter on the UW men’s basketball team. He was named the Huskies’ team captain for the 1979-80 season, prior to earning his UW degree and being selected by the Golden State Warriors in the 1980 NBA Draft.
