The emotions were already building when Gabe Lazo took to the podium after being introduced as the new UCF women’s basketball coach on Thursday.
As Lazo began his remarks, his eyes welled up as he glanced down at his family sitting in the front row, particularly his mother, Adela, who sat directly in front of the stage.
“I’m a big believer that you win with people in life and this is incredible,” said Lazo. “Having my family here, I’m just letting you guys know I will get emotional at some point because my mother’s here. So bear with me.”
Moments earlier, he posed with a personalized basketball jersey along with school president Alexander Cartwright and athletics director Terry Mohajir. As he struggled to keep his emotions in check, Mohajir tossed him the jersey to use to wipe his eyes.
“She did it all by herself. She raised me all by herself and she’s my why and it motivates me to keep fighting in life,” Lazo said of his mother.
Lazo becomes the 14th person to coach the Knights’ women’s program since its inception in 1977. He replaces Sytia Messer, who was fired on March 30 after four losing seasons.
“We needed a leader who could elevate this program in every way, recruiting, developing, connecting and competing for championships and NCAA play,” Mohajir said of Lazo. “When we went through the process, one name consistently rose to the top, not just because of what he’s accomplished, but because of how he has done it.
“He’s earned the opportunity to be on this stage here tonight.”
Gabe Lazo was introduced as UCF’s new women’s basketball coach during a ceremony on Thursday at Addition Financial Arena. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
This is Lazo’s first head coaching job in college after previously serving as an assistant at Tennessee, Mississippi State, George Washington, Stony Brook and FIU. He’s long been considered one of the top recruiters in college basketball, but Lazo prefers a different terminology.
“I hate the word recruiter. It’s such a transactional word. I’m a connector. I’m about transformational relationships,” Lazo said.
Lazo will be tasked with rebuilding a roster that has already seen more than a handful of players enter the transfer portal, including starters Leah Harmon (15.7 points per game), Khyala Ngodu (11 ppg.) and Summer Yancy (6.5 ppg.). Other players entering the portal include Savannah Scott, Kayanna Cox, Logan Reed, Audreonia Benson and Samari Bankhead.
The group comprises 88% (55.4 ppg.) of the team’s scoring production from this past season.
But perhaps the biggest challenge he’s facing is drumming up support for the program. The Knights have finished in last place in average attendance in two of the past three seasons since joining the Big 12 in 2023. UCF averaged a league-worst 1,094 fans last season.
“That’s something that really matters to me, to our staff, we’ve got to get in the community. We’ve got to get in with these students,” Lazo explained.
Lazo, who is a Miami native, wants to connect with people through his Latino roots.
“Something that really attracts me to UCF is the population of Hispanic students,” he said. “We’re a Hispanic-serving university. I speak Spanish, so I hope we can connect.
“Orlando is so diverse, so many Latinos here, but it’s who I am. My culture, my whole family, we have a lot of pride in our heritage.”
Lazo is the first Latino head coach at the Power Four level and he hopes his story will inspire others.
“It’s really going to inspire so many people all over the world and it’s going to also inspire high school coaches that are coming up, because now they see someone who was in their shoes,” he added. “I might put a little bit of pressure on myself, right, but it’s okay.”
It didn’t take long for Lazo to start building his coaching staff, with his first hire being a familiar face to the program in Lynn Bria. Bria coached the Knights from 1996-99 and has spent the previous 18 seasons as the head coach at Stetson.
Lazo also hired Bett Shelby and Josh Theis to fill out his coaching staff.
Shebly, who served at SMU, Arizona and West Virginia, is known as a top recruiter and has developed several WNBA players, including Helena Pueyo, Esmery Martinez and Kysre Gondrezick. Theis previously worked with Lazo at the University of Tennessee.
“We’re going to be extremely busy the next couple of days with recruiting,” said Lazo. “But with the portal, you can turn your roster around and be as competitive as you possibly can.
“We’re going to compete. The one thing I promise you is that we will compete at the highest level. We’re going to fight, we’re going to have energy, we’re going to be enthusiastic.”
Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.