Ryan Sylvia
BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU head coach Kim Mulkey added one of the nation’s top assistant coaches in Gabe Lazo Tuesday, strengthening LSU’s first-class staff with an elite coach and recruiter.
“Gabe will be an outstanding addition to our staff,” Mulkey said. “He has been an invaluable member of two SEC staffs with an unbelievable ability to teach the game and recruit the best players in the country. Gabe will impact our program at the highest level, and his unmatched work ethic will lead to great results on the court and on the recruiting trail. It doesn’t matter if Gabe is out recruiting or coaching on the floor because the contributions he will make toward our program will be significant.”
After four seasons as a member of Coach Mulkey’s staff, Gary Redus II moved into the head coaching ranks at Rutgers becoming another coach to stem from Mulkey’s coaching tree. Lazo, who has been at Tennessee for the past two seasons, joins the Tigers as one of two hires Mulkey will make in the offseason.
Lazo’s two seasons on Rocky Top consisted of two NCAA Tournament appearances including a trip to the Sweet 16 during his first season in Knoxville. He joins LSU’s staff for his 10th season coaching college women’s basketball at five schools over a nine-year period. The teams he has helped lead have recorded five postseason runs (4 NCAA, 1 WBIT), a conference championship and a conference tournament title.
In his first year in Knoxville, Lazo was chosen to attend the 2024 TopConnect Basketball Symposium in Las Vegas. The program identifies the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and connects them with mid-major athletic directors, providing tremendous networking and leadership development opportunities for both parties.
He also was named to the board of directors for the Latino Association of Basketball Coaches (LABC) in 2024 and was chosen as the 2025 World Exposure Report Assistant Coach of the Year.
On the recruiting front, Lazo had a lead role in securing elite talent. The Lady Vols then signed a 2025 high school class ranked No. 1 or 2 and added the top portal class of 2025, according to ESPN.
Before arriving on Rocky Top, he spent two seasons at Mississippi State as an associate head coach. He helped the Bulldogs make the NCAA Tournament Second Round in 2022-23 and the WBIT Elite Eight in 2023-24.
Known as a relentless recruiter, a motivator, a mentor to, and developer of student athletes with an outstanding work ethic, Lazo served as MSU’s designated defensive coordinator. Lazo provided opponent scouting and defensive assignments as well as in-game tactics and adjustments from the bench. His ability to identify talent and build relationships was critical to the Bulldogs landing the No. 3 transfer class ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. He also played a key role in Mississippi State securing highly-regarded classes over his last two signing cycles there, including the 16th-rated class in 2022-23, which was the second best in school history.
Prior to making the move to Starkville, Lazo spent the 2021-22 campaign as an assistant at George Washington, helping mold the second-ranked defense in the A-10 Conference. During that season, the GWU squad reached the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament.
From 2019-21, Lazo served as an assistant at Stony Brook. Among SBU’s achievements were winning the 2019-20 America East regular-season championship, capturing the 2021 America East Tournament championship and earning a berth in that season’s NCAA Tournament. While on Long Island, Lazo assisted with the development of five all-conference selections in 2020.
Lazo cut his teeth in the college coaching ranks at FIU, filling a role as an assistant there from 2017-19. He contributed toward the Panthers success in 2017-18 with their most overall victories since 2013-14 and their most league wins since joining Conference USA.
Prior to making the move to college basketball, Lazo was varsity girls head coach at John. A. Ferguson Senior High School from 2012-17, earning Miami-Dade County Coach of the Year distinction on three different occasions. He guided the Falcons to regional championships in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and to state runner-up finishes during those seasons as well and a No. 2 overall Florida state ranking in Class 8A.
His duties dovetailed with his summer role as head coach of the Miami Suns in the Nike Girls Elite Youth Basketball League from 2010-17. His 2014 “Team Larkins” squad achieved a top-10 national ranking and was invited to Nike Nationals.
Lazo played collegiately at FIU (2004-06) and Barry University (2006-08), earning a bachelor’s degree in education from Barry in 2008. He also played professionally for two years with Cariduros de Fajardo BSN in Puerto Rico.
During his high school days, Lazo was a four-year letterwinner and an honor roll student at Miami Senior High. He led MSHS to the state final four as a junior and the elite eight as a senior and was part of squads winning three district titles and two city championships during his prep career.
**LSU PRESS RELEASE**
