After 10 seasons as head coach of the UCSD men’s basketball team, Greg Lanthier will not have his contract renewed for the 2004-05 season. The Tritons ended the 2003-04 season with a 9-18 overall record and 9-11 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
“It is time for us to go in a new direction,” said UCSD Director of Athletics Earl W. Edwards on March 10.
Since Lanthier’s first game as head of the Triton squad in 1994, he has earned a 111-149 overall record, and the program moved from Division III to Division II during the 2000-01 season. His most successful season was 1998-99, when UCSD earned a 20-5 record.
Edwards suggested that the change may be the first step in developing UCSD into a more competitive basketball school.
“Basketball needs to be a high-profile sport and we will be looking for a person, preferably with head-coaching experience, who can build on the foundation we have in place,” Edwards said.
Edwards went on to say that the search for a new head coach would begin immediately.
After Lanthier’s contract was not renewed, six players from the men’s basketball team requested to be released from the team. Players were unavailable for comment at press time.
