| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Cal State Los Angeles |
| Conference | CCAA |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1964-06-15)June 15, 1964 (age 60) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1982–1984 | Cal Poly |
| 1984–1985 | College of Marin |
| 1985–1987 | Chapman |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1988–1989 | California (asst.) |
| 1989–1990 | Indiana State (asst.) |
| 1990–1994 | Fresno State (asst.) |
| 1994–1996 | Columbia JC |
| 1996–2003 | UCLA (asst.) |
| 2004–2005 | USC (asst./interim HC) |
| 2006–2007 | Citrus CC (asst.) |
| 2007–2010 | Fresno Pacific |
| 2010 | Los Angeles Sparks (asst.) |
| 2010–2016 | Cal State San Marcos |
| 2016–present | Cal State Los Angeles |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 275–172 (college) 61–10 (junior college) |
James Sebastian Saia (born June 15, 1964) is an American men'sbasketball player andcoach. Saia is currently the men's head basketball coach atCalifornia State University, Los Angeles.[1]
Born inSan Francisco, Saia prepped atSir Francis Drake High inSan Anselmo, California and graduated in 1982.[2] He was a member of the basketball team that won the 1982 California state championship with a 34–0 record. There, he was teammates with futureUCLA coachSteve Lavin.
Saia started hiscollege basketball playing career atCal Poly in the 1983–84 season, after redshirting a year. That season, he averaged 1.2 points and 0.4 rebounds in 19 games.[3] He then transferred toCollege of Marin for the 1984–85 season and finished atChapman University for his final two years, where he would join his childhood friendSteve Lavin. Saia graduated from Chapman in 1987.[2]
Saia began his coaching career as an assistant underLou Campanelli atCalifornia in the 1988–89 season then was an assistant atIndiana State in the 1989–90 season andFresno State from 1990 to 1994.[4]
From 1994 to 1996, Saia was head coach atColumbia College, a junior college inSonora, California. He led Columbia to a 61–10 cumulative record, twoCentral Valley Conference titles, and an appearance in the Final Eight round of the 1996CCCAA tournament.[2]
Saia then returned to the Division I level as an assistant atUCLA underSteve Lavin, a position for which Saia stayed from 1996 until 2003, after Lavin was fired. At UCLA, Saia coached future NBA players likeBaron Davis,Earl Watson,Jason Kapono, andMatt Barnes.[4]
Originally an assistant in the 2004–05 season, Saia took over as interim head coach atUSC after the firing ofHenry Bibby in December. USC went 10–15 for the rest of the season under Saia.[5][2]
Saia returned to the junior college ranks as an assistant coach atCitrus in the 2006-07 season. From 2007 to 2010, Saia was head coach atFresno Pacific, an NAIA school at the time. At Fresno Pacific, Saia had a 70–29 overall record with two NAIA Tournament appearances.[4]
Saia was an assistant coach for theLos Angeles Sparks during the2010 season.
On May 25, 2010,Cal State San Marcos hired Saia as its inaugural men's basketball head coach. The program's first season was in 2011–12, in which Cal State San Marcos competed in the NAIA level and advanced to theAssociation of Independent Institutions (AII) title game. In the 2012-13 season, Saia led Cal State San Marcos to its first appearance in theNAIA Tournament. Cal State San Marcos later had two straight seasons with 30 or more wins in 2013–14 and 2014–15, and Saia won AII Coach of the Year honors both seasons.[4] Saia coached at Cal State San Marcos through the 2015–16 season, its first in theNCAA Division II level andCalifornia Collegiate Athletic Association and in which the team finished 15–12.[4]
Cal State Los Angeles hired Saia as head coach on June 6, 2016.[6]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Claim Jumpers(Central Valley Conference)(1994–1995) | |||||||||
| 1994–95 | Columbia (CA) | 31–5 | ? | 1st | CCCAA Tournament | ||||
| 1995–96 | Columbia (CA) | 30–5 | ? | 1st | CCCAA Final Eight | ||||
| Columbia (CA): | 61–10 (.859) | 25–3(.893) | |||||||
| Total: | 61–10 (.859) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USC Trojans(Pacific-10 Conference)(2004–2005) | |||||||||
| 2004–05 | USC # | 10–15 | 5–13 | 10th | |||||
| USC: | 10–15 (.400) | 5–13 (.278) | |||||||
| Fresno Pacific Sunbirds(Golden State Athletic Conference)(2007–2010) | |||||||||
| 2007–08 | Fresno Pacific | 19–12 | 10–10 | 6th | |||||
| 2008–09 | Fresno Pacific | 26–8 | 18–2 | 1st | NAIA First Round | ||||
| 2009–10 | Fresno Pacific | 25–9 | 13–7 | 4th | NAIA Second Round | ||||
| Fresno Pacific: | 70–29 (.707) | 41–19 (.683) | |||||||
| Cal State San Marcos Cougars(NAIA independent)(2011–2015) | |||||||||
| 2011–12 | Cal State San Marcos | 19–12 | |||||||
| 2012–13 | Cal State San Marcos | 23–7 | NAIA First Round | ||||||
| 2013–14 | Cal State San Marcos | 32–2 | NAIA Quarterfinals | ||||||
| 2014–15 | Cal State San Marcos | 30–4 | NAIA Quarterfinals | ||||||
| Cal State San Marcos Cougars(California Collegiate Athletic Association)(2015–2016) | |||||||||
| 2015–16 | Cal State San Marcos | 15–12 | 11–9 | 6th | |||||
| Cal State San Marcos: | 119–37 (.763) | 11–9 (.550) | |||||||
| Cal State LA Golden Eagles(California Collegiate Athletic Association)(2016–present) | |||||||||
| 2016–17 | Cal State LA | 14–16 | 9–11 | 8th | |||||
| 2017–18 | Cal State LA | 13–16 | 9–13 | 9th | |||||
| 2018–19 | Cal State LA | 18–12 | 13–9 | 8th | |||||
| 2019–20 | Cal State LA | 13–16 | 8–14 | 8th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Cal State LA | 0–0 | 0–0 | ||||||
| 2021–22 | Cal State LA | 7–14 | 4–11 | 10th | |||||
| 2022–23 | Cal State LA | 11–17 | 8–14 | T–9th | |||||
| Cal State LA: | 76–91 (.455) | 51–72 (.415) | |||||||
| Total: | 275–172 (.615) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
| # Henry Bibby fired midseason. Jim Saia finished season as interim head coach. |
Saia and his wife, Stacey, have three daughters and a son.[4]
Saia is close friends withSteve Lavin, having played on the same team with him atSir Francis Drake High School andChapman University, and served as an assistant coach when Lavin wasUCLA's head coach.