Romar’s 36 victories in his first two seasons is the third-best start by a head coach in Billiken history. Only legendary coach Eddie Hickey’s 46 victories and John Benington’s 39 wins top Romar’s total.

Romar enjoyed a successful three-year run at Pepperdine before accepting the Billikens’ position. He took the Waves to the 1999 NIT with a 19-13 record. It was Pepperdine’s first postseason appearance in five years.

Romar has fashioned a reputation as one of the nation’s top recruiters through his experience as the Waves’ head coach and as an assistant coach at UCLA. He took control of the Waves’ program in February 1996 and quickly established himself while forging a 42-44 career record.

In his second year, Romar staged a significant 11-game improvement over the previous season to finish with a 17-10 record. That success placed Pepperdine second in the final 1997-98 regular season of the West Coast Conference, just one game behind champion Gonzaga. Pepperdine was the second-most improved NCAA Division I team in the country behind UConn.

Prior to his stint at Pepperdine, Romar was the top assistant under Jim Harrick at UCLA from 1992-1996. There he recruited such talent as Toby Bailey, Cameron Dollar, omm’A Givens, J.R. Henderson, Kris Johnson, Brandon Loyd, Jelani McCoy and Charles O’Bannon.

UCLA’s record during Romar’s tenure was 97-28 (.776). The Bruins were the Pacific-10 Conference champions in 1995 and 1996. The 1994-95 team had a 31-2 record, winning its final 19 games. The Bruins became the NCAA champions that year as they defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks at the Kingdome in Seattle.

A native of Compton, Calif., Romar graduated from Pius X High School. He earned his associate degree from Cerritos Community College in 1978 before receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in 1980.

During his sophomore year at Cerritos, he led the Falcons to a 23-8 record, averaged 14.1 ppg, 6.5 apg and earned first-team All-League honors. Romar was inducted into the California Community College Hall of Fame in 1992.

As a senior at Washington where he played for legendary coach Marv Harshman, Romar averaged 9.3 ppg, 3.5 apg and was named team captain as the team earned an NIT berth. He was twice voted the Huskies’ Most Inspirational Player by his teammates.

As an NBA player, he totaled 1,716 career points (1981-1984) for an average of 6.1 ppg and handed out 1,009 assists. He played for both the Golden State Warriors (1980-1983) and the Milwaukee Bucks (1983-1984). His four-year career came to a close when he joined Athletes In Action (AIA) in 1985.

AIA is the athletic division of Campus Crusade for Christ, a non-denominational ministry that began in 1951 at UCLA. Romar started 224 of 233 games during his seven years as a player. His best season was in 1991-1992 when he averaged 24.4 ppg, 5.9 apg and 1.8 steals while shooting 54.5 from the field, including 49.5 percent from threeland and 83.7 from the charity stripe.

Romar set single-game records while an AIA player for most points (54) and assists (21). He remains the team’s all-time assists leader (1,689) and ranks No. 2 in all-time scoring (4,244). Romar took on the dual role as player and co-head coach in 1989 through 1992.

Romar participated in his first USA Basketball coaching assignment during the summer of 1997, serving as an assistant coach under Rick Majerus for the United States 22 & Under Team that competed at the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Romar resides in St. Louis with his wife, Leona, and three daughters, Terra, Tavia and Taylor.

ROMAR'S NCAA DIVISION I CAREER COACHING RECORD