ORLANDO — UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Terry Mohajir has announced the hiring of Gabe Lazo as the next head coach of its women’s basketball program, becoming the 14th head coach in program history.
A Miami native, Lazo brings a dynamic background and a proven track record of success at multiple levels of women’s basketball. Widely regarded as one of the rising coaches in the game, he has built his reputation as an elite recruiter, defensive strategist, and developer of student-athletes.
“Gabe represents what we were looking for in the next leader of our women’s basketball program,” said Terry Mohajir UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics. “He’s a proven competitor at every level of the game, with deep Florida roots, an elite ability to connect with people, and a track record of developing student-athletes on and off the court. He has consistently helped elevated every program he’s been part of as a head coach and assistant. His vision for UCF, his love for the state, combined with his energy and ability to connect, make him the right leader at the right time in today’s college landscape. We’re confident he will build a program capable of competing for Big 12 championships while developing young women to succeed long after their playing careers.
Most recently, Lazo spent the past two seasons at Tennessee, helping guide the Lady Vols to two NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 run during his first season in Knoxville. During his time at UT, he played a key role in assembling elite talent, including a top-ranked 2025 signing class and the nation’s top transfer portal class, according to ESPN.
“I am incredibly honored and excited to be named the head coach at UCF,” said Lazo. “This is a special place with tremendous potential, and I’m grateful to President Alexander Cartwright, Terry Mohajir, Chris McFarlane, and the leadership at UCF for believing in me. As a Florida native, this opportunity means a great deal to me. I look forward to building meaningful relationships with our student-athletes, competing at a high level in the Big 12, and making Knight Nation proud.”
Lazo enters his 10th season coaching college women’s basketball, having helped lead teams to five postseason appearances (four NCAA Tournament berths and one WBIT), along with a conference championship and a conference tournament title.
Prior to Tennessee, Lazo spent two seasons as associate head coach at Mississippi State, where he served as the program’s defensive coordinator and helped lead the Bulldogs to an NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance in 2022-23 and a WBIT Elite Eight run in 2023-24. Known for his relentless recruiting approach and ability to develop talent, he played a critical role in assembling top-ranked recruiting and transfer classes during his time in Starkville.
Before his time in the SEC, Lazo coached at George Washington (2021-22), helping the program post the second-ranked defense in the Atlantic 10 and reach the conference tournament quarterfinals. He also spent two seasons at Stony Brook (2019-21), where he helped guide the Seawolves to an America East regular-season championship, a conference tournament title, and an NCAA Tournament appearance, while assisting in the development of multiple all-conference players.
Lazo began his collegiate coaching career at FIU (2017-19) following a successful run at the high school level as head coach at Miami’s John A. Ferguson Senior High School, where he earned Miami-Dade County Coach of the Year honors three times and led his teams to back-to-back regional championships and state runner-up finishes.
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 that won three district titles and two city championships during his prep career.
Lazo has quickly started to put his Coaching Staff together as he has announced his first four hires.
Among the first moves was a nod to the past, as former UCF head coach Lynn Bria was named assistant coach.
After a decorated 18-year tenure just 40 miles north at Stetson, along with a three-season stint leading the Knights from 1996-99 while in the Atlantic Sun, Bria returns to UCF after stepping away from the Hatters last month.
Across 31 seasons as a head coach, Bria boasted an impressive 471 wins, which currently ranks 35th among active DI coaches in the NCAA.
In her time as the ninth head coach in UCF women’s basketball history, Bria reignited the program with consecutive trips to the A-Sun Tournament semifinals in 1996-97 and 1997-98 before an historic 20-11 season in 1998-98, leading the Black and Gold to an A-Sun title and first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
While in DeLand, Bria developed the program into a consistent force in the A-Sun, claiming three conference championships, a pair of bids to the NCAA Tournament and an impressive 12 postseason appearances.
The West Virginia native took over a Stetson team that had won only a combined 14 games the two seasons prior to her appointment, and in just three years, led the Hatters to her first of nine 20-win seasons and the program’s second NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011.
What followed was a combined 143 wins over the next six seasons, amassing another A-Sun tournament title and a trip to the Big Dance in 2012-13, and four appearances in the WNIT. The Hatters finished among the top-five in the conference in 14 of her 18 seasons at the helm, and in her farewell campaign in 2025-26, went 20-12 and returned to the WNIT for the seventh time.
Bria departed DeLand as the all-time winningest head coach, accumulating a 318-252 record in her legendary tenure.
Another impactful addition is bringing long time Power Four coach Bett Shelby to Orlando as an assistant.
The Charlotte, North Carolina, native has been one of the nation’s top recruiters at numerous Power Four programs _ SMU, Arizona, West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Maryland _ as well as early stops at Stetson, under current UCF assistant Lynn Bria’s staff, Tennessee Tech (2009-10) and Southern Illinois (2010-11).
Her first job at the collegiate level came from 2006-08 at East Carolina, where she served as director of operations in Greenville.
The third in a series of hires is Josh Theis, who has been named an assistant coach and video coordinator for the Knights.
A familiar face for coach Lazo, Theis served as the director of video and creative content at Tennessee for the past five seasons, which followed two years as a graduate assistant with the Lady Vol program.
Theis worked hand-in-hand with Lazo to create graphics, videos and other digital content for social media. This past season, the Cincinnati native played a larger role in opponent scouting reports, along with coordinating all aspects of film exchange and video editing.
Finally, Lazo announced Mollie Patmore as the program's director of operations.
Patmore will make the short journey on I-4 east after spending the past two seasons as the Director of Operations at South Florida, gaining valuable experience managing the program’s ins and outs, including scheduling, travel, meals and academic endeavors.
Her second stint in Tampa came after serving in a similar role at UMBC as the women’s basketball director of operations, executing similar roles, including establishing a camp LLC for her head coach, along with the branded website and gear.
The New Jersey native first worked for Jose Fernandez’ staff at South Florida in a graduate assistant role from August 2022 to April 2024, completing her MBA and MS in business administration and sports and entertainment management in the process.
