UIC Athletic Director Jim Schmidt announced today (March 23) that Steve McClain has been hired as the 11th head men’s basketball coach in program history, subject to approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. McClain owns 33 years of collegiate coaching experience, including nine as a Division-I head coach, and most recently served as the associate head coach at Indiana University under Tom Crean.
“It was clear from my first meeting with Steve that he understood what it would take for UIC to return to the NCAA Tournament,” said Schmidt. “His energy, experience, attention to detail and thirst to win on so many levels moved him ahead of a very strong pool of candidates. He has great commitment to ensuring that our student-athletes experience success in classroom and life. His work with coaches Billy Tubbs, Jeff Bzdelik and Tom Crean along with his many local and national recruiting connections proved to me that he can bring excellence back to UIC. I am looking forward to the Flames rising quickly under Steve’s leadership.”
McClain comes to UIC after spending five years on the men’s basketball staff at Indiana. During that time he helped the Hoosiers reach back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16’s, win the Big Ten regular season title in 2012-13 and receive national recognition for top-25 ranked recruiting classes. McClain also helped develop NBA lottery picks Victor Oladipo (Orlando), Cody Zeller (Charlotte) and Noah Vonleh (Charlotte). Oladipo and Zeller earned first-team All-America honors as Oladipo was named the Sporting News National Player of the Year.
McClain was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2012-13 campaign. Since then, IU has compiled a 93-45 record with 10 wins against programs ranked within the top-10.
Prior to Indiana, McClain spent three seasons helping to rebuild the program at Colorado, including two years as the associate head coach under Jeff Bzdelik. From year two to year three at CU, the Buffaloes jumped up four spots in the Big 12 standings and finished the 2009-10 season with a 15-16 record, the program’s best mark in four years. McClain also helped develop then-freshman guard Alec Burks, who earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors in 2010 and was later selected as the No. 12 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
Before his time in Boulder, McClain served nine seasons as the 19th head coach at the University of Wyoming and guided the program to one of its most successful periods in school history. McClain compiled a winning record of 157-115 (.577) during his nine years, the program’s fifth-highest percentage all-time, and brought the Cowboys to four postseason appearances, including advancement to second-round play in three of those four occurrences.
During the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, No. 11 seed Wyoming pulled off an improbable upset against No. 6 seed Gonzaga by a final of 73-66, which snapped the nation’s longest winning streak of 14 games.
McClain led Wyoming to a trio of 20-win seasons from 2000-03, and was named the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2002. The Cowboys shared the MWC regular season title in 2001, the school’s first since 1988, and won it outright in 2002 with an 11-3 conference record.
Overall, the Cowboys finished in the top half of the league in six of McClain’s nine seasons and also won 18 or more games during five campaigns. He also coached five first team All-Conference players and two All-Americans in Josh Davis (2001-02) and Marcus Bailey (2002-03).
Prior to his time in Laramie, McClain spent four years as an assistant at TCU under legendary head coach Billy Tubbs. McClain helped the Horned Frogs amass an 81-44 record during his four seasons. In the 1997-98 campaign, TCU went 27-6 and a perfect 14-0 in league play en route to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the school’s first appearance in 11 years.
During his tenure at TCU, McClain helped develop longtime NBA power forward Kurt Thomas who became the third-ever NCAA player to lead the nation in scoring (28.9) and rebounding (14.6).
Before his days in Division-I, McClain enjoyed unprecedented success at the junior college level. He spent eight seasons at Hutchinson Community College, including three years as the head coach.
During his three seasons at the helm, McClain compiled a 91-16 (.850) record and guided the Hutch Dragons to a National Junior College Championship in 1994. He was later named the National Junior College Coach of the Year and still holds the all-time best winning percentage in program history (.850).
McClain was an assistant coach at Hutchinson for five seasons and aided the program to a national title in 1988.
McClain has also served on the staffs at Independence Community College (1985-86) and his alma mater Chardon State College (1982-84). His first head coaching job was during the 1984-85 season at Sioux Empire Junior College.
McClain is a native of Orient, Iowa and is married to the former Kim Van Asselt of Hutchinson, Kan. They have one son named Dylan (12).
Release courtesy of Mike Laninga, UIC Athletics
