THE LANIER FILE

Personal Information

Full Name: Robert A. Lanier
Born: July 24, 1968, in New York, N.Y.
Hometown: Buffalo, N.Y.
High School: Mount St. Joseph Academy (Buffalo, N.Y.)
College: St. Bonaventure, 1990
Wife: Dr. Dayo Lanier
Children: Emory and Kai

Coaching Experience

1990-91:
Niagara, graduate assistant
1991-92:
Niagara, restricted earnings assistant coach
1992-97:
St. Bonaventure, assistant coach
1997-99:
Rutgers, assistant coach
1999-2001:
Texas, assistant coach
2001-05:
Siena, head coach
2005-07:
Virginia, assistant coach
2007-11:
Florida, assistant coach
2011-15:
Texas, associate head coach
2015-present:
Tennessee, associate head coach

LANIER'S NBA DRAFT PICKS

Year	Name, Pos	Round (Overall)	Team
2000	Chris Mihm, C	1st (7)	Chicago
2002	Chris Owens, F	2nd (48)	Milwaukee
2003	T.J. Ford, G	1st (8)	Milwaukee
2004	Royal Ivey, G	2nd (37)	Atlanta
2008	Marreese Speights, F/C	1st (16)	Philadelphia
2008	Sean Singletary, G	2nd (42)	Sacramento
2009	Nick Calathes, G	2nd (45)	Minnesota
2011	Chandler Parsons, F	2nd (38)	Houston
2011	Vernon Macklin, F/C	2nd (52)	Detroit
2012	Bradley Beal, G	1st (3)	Washington
2015	Myles Turner, C	1st (11)	Indiana

Lanier signed or coached each of the players listed above

LANIER'S McDONALD'S ALL-AMERICANS

Year	Name, Pos
2000	Brian Boddicker, F
2001	T.J. Ford, G
2009	Kenny Boynton Jr., G
2010	Patric Young, F
2011	Bradley Beal, G
2011	Myck Kabongo, G
2012	Cameron Ridley, C
2014	Myles Turner, C
2019	Josiah James, G

Lanier assisted in the recruitment of each player listed above.

Rob Lanier (pronounced: luh-NEER) has spent three seasons as associate head coach at Tennessee, but the 2018-19 campaign will be his 10th year working alongside head coach Rick Barnes.

In addition to boasting four years of Division I head coaching experience at Siena, the 50-year-old Lanier also has coached in the Big 12, SEC, ACC, Big East, Atlantic 10 and MAAC. He has worked on the bench for 10 teams that advanced to NCAA Tournament play.

Immediately prior to his hiring at Tennessee in April 2015, Lanier served four seasons as Barnes’ associate head coach at Texas from 2011-15. It was Lanier’s second stint on Barnes’ staff in Austin.

Tennessee was picked to finish 13th in the 14-team SEC prior to the 2017-18 campaign, but Lanier’s leadership and experience was instrumental in guiding the Big Orange to the regular-season SEC Championship, the title game of the SEC Tournament, a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a 26-9 record (third-most wins in program history).

Lanier spearheads the Vols’ scheduling efforts and has put together consecutive non-conference schedules that rank among the most challenging in the country, featuring matchups against the likes of Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, North Carolina and Wake Forest.

Tennessee in 2017-18 was one of only eight “Power Five” teams to increase its overall wins total by 10 or more games from 2016-17. The Vols also were one of only eight “Power Five” programs to win at least 13 games away from home in 2017-18, leading to a year-end RPI of No. 10 while playing the 11th-toughest schedule in the country. UT finished the year ranked 13^th in the Associated Press poll and 16^th in the coaches’ poll.

A highly effective communicator and relentless tactician, Lanier has handled the scouting duties for Tennessee’s four wins over highly-rated Kentucky teams over the last three years (during which the Vols are 3-0 vs. the Wildcats in Knoxville).

Known for his prowess on the recruiting trail, Lanier played a key role in the assembly and development of Tennessee’s 2016-17 recruiting class, which was responsible for 44 percent of the team’s scoring that season and finished the year as the highest-scoring crop of freshmen in program history (1,040 points). One member of that class, forward Grant Williams, went on to earn SEC Player of the Year honors as a true sophomore in 2018.

Texas’ three-man recruiting class in 2014 featured McDonald’s All-American Myles Turner (No. 2 recruit by ESPN), No. 86-ranked prospect Jordan Barnett and transfer Shaquille Cleare, who was rated the No. 30 prospect nationally in 2012 by ESPN.

Texas’ six-man freshman class in 2012 was ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN and included McDonald’s All-American Cameron Ridley, while the Longhorn’s six-man freshman crop in 2011 was tabbed the No. 4 recruiting class in the country by ESPN and included McDonald’s All-American Myck Kabongo.

In total, Lanier has played a role in signing nine McDonald’s All-Americans. And 11 players that he either signed or coached have gone on to become NBA Draft Picks.

Before returning to Texas, Lanier served as assistant coach under Billy Donovan at Florida for four seasons. In those four years, Lanier helped the Gators advance to postseason play every year while posting a 99-44 (.692) cumulative record.

Florida totaled 24 and 25 victories in 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively. In 2009-10, the Gators went 21-13 and earned an NCAA Tournament berth. Florida then registered a 29-8 mark in 2010-11, won the SEC regular-season championship (13-3 record) and advanced all the way to the NCAA Elite Eight.

Lanier’s tenure at Florida was preceded by a two-year stint as an assistant coach on Dave Leitao’s coaching staff at Virginia. During his second year in Charlottesville (2006-07), the Cavaliers posted a 21-11 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Despite being picked to finish eighth in the conference, Virginia registered an 11-5 mark in league play and claimed a share of the ACC regular-season championship with North Carolina. It marked the first league title for the Cavaliers since 1994-95.

Lanier spent four years as the head coach at Siena from 2001-05. During that span, the Saints posted a 58-70 mark and advanced to one NCAA Tournament and one NIT.

Siena won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in 2002 and then defeated Alcorn State in an NCAA Tournament opening-round game before losing to eventual national champion Maryland in the first round. During the 2002-03 campaign, Lanier guided Siena to a 21-11 record a third-place MAAC finish with a 12-6 league mark. The Saints earned a berth in the NIT, where they defeated Villanova in the opening round and Western Michigan in the first round, before falling to UAB in the second round. Siena also defeated Providence during the regular season, marking the first time in school history that the Saints had defeated two Big East teams (Villanova and Providence) in the same year.

Rob Lanier, along with his wife, Dayo, their children, Emory and Kai, and the family dog, Sandy.

Prior to becoming the head coach at Siena, Lanier worked alongside Barnes as an assistant coach at Texas for two seasons from 1999-2001. During that first stint in Austin, the Longhorns recorded a two-year mark of 49-18 (.731) and advanced to a pair of NCAA Tournaments. Texas posted a 24-9 record in 1999-2000, finished second in the Big 12 with a 13-3 league mark and advanced to the second Round of the NCAA Tournament.

In April of 2000, Texas earned a No. 15 national ranking in the final Associated Press poll (best in school history at that time) and occupied a spot in the AP top 25 all season for the first time in program history.

Junior center Chris Mihm developed into one of the top players in the nation during that 1999-2000 season, earning consensus first-team All-America honors, and he was selected as the No. 7 overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls (traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers on draft night).

Lanier was a vital part of Texas’ recruiting success, helping the Longhorns land a consensus national top 10 signing class in 2000 that included Brian Boddicker, Royal Ivey, Jason Klotz, Brandon Mouton and James Thomas. During the 2000-01 season, Texas finished with a 25-9 record, tied for second in the Big 12 with a 12-4 league mark and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Lanier helped mold four true freshmen and eight total newcomers into a squad that ranked No. 18 in the final AP poll.

Also in 2000-01, the Longhorns tied a school record for most home wins in a season (16-1) and defeated two AP top-10 teams at home in the same season for the first time in school history (No. 5 Illinois, No. 6 Iowa State).

Prior to Lanier’s departure to take over the program at Siena, he played a major role in the recruitment of T.J. Ford, who went on to earn National Player of the Year honors with the Longhorns in 2002-03.

Lanier served as an assistant coach at Rutgers University for two seasons from 1997-99. While at Rutgers, he was instrumental in helping the Scarlet Knights secure back-to-back nationally-ranked recruiting classes. Included in Lanier’s first class was guard Dahntay Jones, who went on to earn 1999 Big East All-Rookie Team honors. Jones currently plays for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.

Lanier’s first full-time collegiate coaching experience came at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, from 1992-97. Prior to that, he broke into the college coaching ranks as a graduate assistant and then a restricted-earnings assistant coach at Niagara from 1990-92.

Lanier received his first head coaching experience in the summer of 1995, when he led a group of American collegians on a tour of the Netherlands. He also coached summer All-Star teams in Italy (1996), Germany (1998) and Greece (1999 and 2000).

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Lanier graduated from St. Bonaventure in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. A four-year letterman with the Bonnies who scored 868 career points, he was a three-year starter and team captain during his senior season. Lanier earned Atlantic 10 Conference All-Freshman Team honors in 1986-87 and was named the team’s Most Improved Player in 1988-89. A two-time scholar-athlete nominee, he went on to earn a master’s degree in educational counseling from Niagara in 1993.

Born July 24, 1968, Lanier and his wife, Dr. Dayo Lanier, have a son, Emory, and a daughter, Kai.

Lanier’s cousin, Bob Lanier, is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Bob Lanier led St. Bonaventure to the NCAA Final Four in 1970 before embarking on a 14-year NBA career that included eight All-Star selections.