Rob Lanier
Rob Lanier (born July 24, 1968)
Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: Rice Owls
Current conference: American Athletic Conference (AAC, The American)
Siena record: 58-70 (.453)
Georgia State record: 53-30 (.639)
SMU record: 30-35 (.462)
Rice record: 0-0 (.000)
Overall record: 141-135 (.511)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 2 (2002, 2022)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 2 (2003, 2024)
- Sun Belt Regular Season Champion: 1 (2021)
- Sun Belt Tournament Champion: 1 (2022)
- MAAC Tournament Champion: 1 (2002)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 2024-present | Rice |
| 2022-2024 | SMU |
| 2019-2022 | Georgia State |
| 2015-2019 | Tennessee (assoc. HC) |
| 2011-2015 | Texas (assoc. HC) |
| 2007-2011 | Florida (asst) |
| 2005-2007 | Virginia (asst) |
| 2001-2005 | Siena |
| 1999-2001 | Texas (asst) |
| 1997-1999 | Rutgers (asst) |
| 1992-1997 | St. Bonaventure (asst) |
| 1991-1992 | Niagara (asst) |
| 1990-1991 | Niagara (grad. asst) |
Rob Lanier Facts
- Robert A. Lanier
- Born July 24, 1968
- Hometown: Buffalo, New York
- Alma Mater: St. Bonaventure University (BA, 1990)
- Born in NYC and raised in Buffalo, played for head coaches Ron DeCarli and Tom Chapman at St. Bonaventure
- Cousin of Hall of Fame player Bob Lanier, an 8x NBA All-Star with Detroit and Milwaukee
- Started his coaching career right after graduating, spending two years at Niagara on Jack Armstrong‘s staff
- Returned to his alma mater in 1992, working as an assistant under new Bonnies head coach Jim Baron
- Spent two years as an assistant Kevin Bannon‘s staff at Rutgers
- Hired by Texas head coach Rick Barnes in 1999, working there for two seasons before becoming a head coach at Siena
- Went 58-70 in four seasons as head coach at Siena, going to the 2002 NCAA Tournament and 2003 NIT
- Fired in March 2005 following a 6-24 effort in his fourth and final season
- Became an assistant again in 2005, spending two years under Dave Leitao (Virginia) and three under Billy Donovan (Florida)
- Rejoined Barnes at Texas in 2011, this time as the Longhorns’ associate head coach
- Hired in April 2019 to be the new head coach at Georgia State
- In his second year, Lanier’s Panthers won a share of the 2020-21 Sun Belt title
- In 2022, Georgia State made its return to the NCAA Tournament by way of a Sun Belt Tournament crown
- Left Georgia State in March 2022 to take over as the new head coach at SMU
- After going 10-22 in year one, he won 20 games in year two to earn an invite to the 2024 NIT
- Despite the 10-win improvement, Lanier was fired in March 2024 after just two seasons with the program
- Hired that same month as the head coach at Rice, keeping him in the AAC and the state of Texas
Rob Lanier Coaching Tree
- coming soon
