Jim Saia

James Sebastian Saia (born June 15, 1964) is an American men's basketball player and coach. Saia is currently the men's head basketball coach at California State University, Los Angeles.

High school career Born in San Francisco, Saia prepped at Sir Francis Drake High in San Anselmo, California and graduated in 1982. 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 future UCLA coach Steve Lavin.

College career Saia started his college basketball playing career at Cal Poly in the 1983–84 season, after redshirting a year. That season, he averaged 1.2 points and 0.4 rebounds in 19 games. He then transferred to College of Marin for the 1984–85 season and finished at Chapman University for his final two years, where he would join his childhood friend Steve Lavin. Saia graduated from Chapman in 1987.

From 1994 to 1996, Saia was head coach at Columbia College, a junior college in Sonora, California. He led Columbia to a 61–10 cumulative record, two Central Valley Conference titles, and an appearance in the Final Eight round of the 1996 CCCAA tournament.

Head coaching record

Junior college

College Henry Bibby fired midseason. Jim Saia finished season as interim head coach.

Personal Saia and his wife, Stacey, have three daughters and a son.

Saia is close friends with Steve Lavin, having played on the same team with him at Sir Francis Drake High School and Chapman University, and served as an assistant coach when Lavin was UCLA's head coach.