Pac-12 Basketball: Top 10 head coaches of the century (2000-20)

7. Lorenzo Romar – Washington (2002-2017)

By the time he took over his alma mater as head coach in 2002, Romar already had plenty of experience in the Pac-12. Prior to successful head coaching stints with Pepperdine and Saint Louis, he had served on the coaching staff at UCLA, helping recruit and build the team that won the 1995 national championship. As he returned to the conference with the Huskies, he had his eyes set on that same prize.

His fifteen years with Washington were mostly successful, though lackluster in the end. He won a pair of Pac-12 regular season titles and led the Huskies to three Sweet Sixteens, though the most recent one was in 2010. After a decade mostly finishing in the top 3 of the conference, his team struggled in his final years, settling for middle of the pack or worse finishes in the conference.

Romar won nearly 300 games with Washington and certainly made an impact, though he lost momentum at the end of his tenure. Even with star prospect Markelle Fultz, his Huskies struggled mightily in his final season. He did have those three postseason runs with the program and certainly built this program into a successful part of the Pac-12 for several years.