After leading the Golden Eagles to a repeat appearance in the conference tournament with some late-season dramatics in 2024-25, Jim Saia returns for his 10th season as the head coach of Cal State LA’s men’s basketball team.
One year removed from the best season in program history, Saia kept the Golden Eagles in contention despite a 2024-25 season filled with unfortunate injuries and illnesses. Cal State LA overcame a slow start to the season and finished with a 12-17 overall record and a 10-12 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
The Golden Eagles picked up a big road win at Cal State East Bay thanks to a remarkable second-half rally on the final week of the regular-season to clinch the tournament bid. It gave Cal State LA back-to-back appearances in the conference tournament for the first time since 2019-20.
The Golden Eagles fell to Cal State San Bernardino in the opening round in a rematch of the 2024 championship game to end their season.
It was an admirable follow-up to a historic season in 2023-24 when Saia guided the Golden Eagles to their first-ever conference tournament title and a single-season record for most wins.
Cal State LA shattered the program record for most wins in a season after going 24-8. The previous record was 20 and the 24 wins were 13 more than the Golden Eagles had in 2022-23.
Saia led the Golden Eagles to a 16-6 record in conference play and a third-place finish, which was the best for the Golden Eagles since a tie for third in 2008. The Golden Eagles then made an outstanding run through the CCAA Tournament, beating San Francisco State, 84-62, and Cal State Dominguez Hills, 75-73, to reach the tournament championship game for the first time. Cal State LA finished the job by beating host Cal State San Bernardino, 73-62, to win the title.
The win was a milestone for Saia, who picked up the 100th victory of his Cal State LA career in the championship game win.
The Golden Eagles wound up with the No. 1 seed in the West Region and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.
Cal State LA finished the season ranked 17th in the nation by the National Basketball Coaches Association.
The Golden Eagles showed early signs of promise with a 59-44 exhibition win at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which gave the team an immediate jolt of confidence. The Golden Eagles then went 5-1 in non-conference play against top competition from the Great Northwest and Pacific West conferences before opening CCAA competition with a 9-2 record over their first 11 games. Despite being picked eighth in the conference in the coaches’ preseason poll, Cal State LA was in the thick of the conference race all season. The Golden Eagles finished just one game out of first place and had a 5-1 record against co-champions Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Dominguez Hills.
A skilled tactician with a lengthy record of success, Saia has more than 30 years of coaching experience and a proven history of building winning programs, including his time at Cal State LA.
In his first eight seasons at Cal State LA, Saia has led the Golden Eagles to an overall record of 112-115 and, thanks to the outstanding 2023-24 season, back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 24 years. Cal State LA has collected 19 All-CCAA, 3 All-West Region, 1 CCAA Championship Scholar Award and 4 CSC Academic All-District awards during his tenure. In addition, his teams have posted the highest team grade point averages in recent memory over the past few seasons.
Saia has a collegiate head coaching record of 311-196 and, including two successful years at the junior college level, an overall mark of 372-206 as a head coach.
The 2023-24 season was a breakthrough for the Golden Eagles, who had battled untimely injuries in recent seasons that curtailed potentially promising seasons.
Saia had the Golden Eagles, despite several crippling injuries that left the team fielding only seven or eight players on most nights, in contention for a spot in the CCAA Tournament until the final weekend in 2022-23. Cal State LA even pulled into a tie for fifth place in a tightly-packed conference race with two weeks left in the season, but couldn’t quite get one of the six tournament bids.
The season had several bright spots, including regular-season sweeps of perennial powers Cal Poly Pomona and Chico State and a non-conference victory over NCAA playoff participant Azusa Pacific. Cal State LA recorded its first regular-season sweep of Cal Poly Pomona since the 1996-97 season after overcoming double-digit halftime deficits in both meetings and the Golden Eagles beat Chico State after leading nearly from start to finish in an 87-80 win in University Gym to compete the first sweep of the Wildcats since 2018-19. Cal State LA finished the season with an 11-17 overall record and an 8-14 conference mark.
Saia did an admirable job of getting the Golden Eagles back on the court in 2021-22 after the previous season was cancelled due to COVID-19. The Golden Eagles fielded one of their youngest squads in years with four freshmen playing significant minutes.
Cal State LA had to battle through injuries and illness and had seven games canceled due to COVID protocols. The Golden Eagles finished the season on a high note with an 86-62 win at Sonoma State that featured a program record-setting nine 3-pointers from Alexander Sokol.
Saia navigated the Golden Eagles through a challenging season in 2019-20 that started in promising fashion before injuries curtailed the momentum. The Golden Eagles recorded one of the best non-conference performances in program history with wins over Azusa Pacific, Biola, Fresno Pacific and Northwest Nazarene leading to a 5-1 record.
Even with the injuries, Saia was still able to lead a short-handed squad into the CCAA Tournament for a second straight year and for the fourth time in five seasons.
Saia guided the Golden Eagles to one of their best seasons in nearly 20 years in 2018-19. The Golden Eagles recorded an 18-12 overall record and made an impressive run in the CCAA Tournament, playing two games that featured a total of five overtime periods. Cal State LA beat San Francisco State in overtime in San Francisco, 81-76, in an opening-round contest that included a pair of power outages lasting a total of 45 minutes.
The Golden Eagles advanced to the tournament semifinals for only the third time in program history and engaged Cal Poly Pomona in a tournament-record four overtimes before falling, 102-99, in an epic battle.
Cal State LA finished the season with five wins in its last six games and challenged for a spot in the NCAA playoffs at the end of the season. The Golden Eagles also got the top conference academic award as Kenneth Cyprian claimed the CCAA Championship Scholar Award for achieving the highest academic achievement among his peers.
The Golden Eagles were 13-9 in conference play, including sweeps over UC San Diego and Chico State. Cal State LA showed a tremendous resiliency throughout the season, most notably in a 92-90 overtime win at Chico State when the Golden Eagles stormed back from a 22-point, second-half deficit for the victory.
The Golden Eagles were No. 3 in the nation in forcing turnovers (19.5 per game) and were also No. 3 in turnover margin (+5.9). Cal State LA was ranked as high as No. 8 in the region during the season.
Saia started remaking the Golden Eagle offense in his second season in 2017-18. The Golden Eagles averaged 77.6 points per game, which was 16 points per game more than Cal State LA averaged before Saia was hired. Cal State LA was second in the conference in scoring.
The Golden Eagles were ranked as high as fifth in the West Region after getting off to a 6-1 start, but some unfortunate injuries derailed their momentum. Cal State LA finished the season with a 13-15 overall record and missed qualifying for the conference tournament by just one game.
With Saia’s offense in full motion, Cal State LA set a new program record with 21 successful 3-pointers, shattering the previous single-game record of 13.
Saia led an under-manned Cal State LA team to a 14-16 overall record and a 9-11 mark in conference play in his first season with the program in 2016-17. The Golden Eagles qualified for the CCAA Championship Tournament and was an impressive 9-4 at home, including 7-3 in conference games.
Cal State LA improved its offensive output by nearly 15 points per game and ended its regular season with a thrilling 101-99 victory over Cal State Marcos.
Saia came to Cal State LA after posting a 189-66 overall record in eight seasons at Cal State San Marcos and Fresno Pacific. He earned back-to-back national Coach of the Year awards from the Basketball Times after leading the Cougars to 62 wins over a two-year span.
Saia also has 14 years of coaching experience at the NCAA Division I level, including seven years as the top assistant coach at UCLA and one year at USC, where he served as the interim head coach for most of the season.
Saia has helped more than 17 players onto rosters of National Basketball Association teams, including Baron Davis, Dan Gadzuric, Earl Watson, Jason Kapono, Nick Young and Matt Barnes.
Saia did an outstanding job at fellow CCAA member Cal State San Marcos, where he led the Cougars to a 119-37 record in five seasons. He became the school’s first-ever head coach in 2010 and quickly led Cal State San Marcos to national prominence at the NAIA level.
The Cougars joined the NCAA Division II and CCAA in 2015-16 and Saia led them to a 15-12 record. Cal State San Marcos went 11-9 in conference play and would have qualified for the conference tournament if the Cougars had been eligible for postseason competition.
In Saia’s first four seasons at Cal State San Marcos, he developed the Cougars into one of the most powerful NAIA teams in the country. During that span, Saia coached five All-Americans, 14 all-conference selections and was twice named the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Coach of the Year after leading the Cougars to back-to-back A.I.I. Championships in 2014 and 2015. The Cougars made three straight appearances to the NAIA National Championships and advanced to the quarterfinal round in 2014 and 2015.
The Cougars had back-to-back 30-win seasons, including a record-setting performance in 2013-14. Cal State San Marcos went 32-2 overall, spent seven weeks ranked No. 1 in the nation and had a 23-game winning streak. The Cougars fell in the NAIA quarterfinals to eventual national runner-up Emmanuel (Ga.).
In 2014-15, the Cougars’ final season in NAIA competition, Saia led Cal State San Marcos to a 30-4 overall record and another NAIA national quarterfinal trip.
Saia started the Cal State San Marcos program from scratch and led the Cougars to records of 19-12 and 23-7 in his first two years with the program while setting the stage for even greater future success.
Saia came to Cal State San Marcos after three seasons as the head coach of Fresno Pacific, where he led the Sunbirds to an overall record of 70-29 with two appearances in the NAIA National Championships and a Golden State Athletic Conference title. Saia’s team set a school record with 26 victories in the 2008-09 season and he was named the GSAC Coach of the Year.
Before leading Fresno Pacific’s program, Saia spent the 2004-05 season at USC. After beginning the season as an assistant coach, Saia became the interim head coach just five games into the season. He guided the Trojans to a 10-15 record and helped develop future National Basketball Association players Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt. They were part of the “Big Three” that reached the Sweet 16 two years later and posted a tournament win over Texas and Kevin Durant.
Saia came to USC after seven seasons as an assistant coach at UCLA, where he helped the Bruins advance to the Elite Eight in 1997 and make five Sweet 16 appearances from 1998-2002. The Bruins won 20 or more games in six of his seven seasons at UCLA.
He was the offensive coordinator at UCLA for three seasons (2000-02) and the Bruins posted their most prolific three-point totals in program history, making 223 in 2002, 190 in 2001 and 205 in 2000.
Saia’s recruiting talents helped UCLA land the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class in 1998 and 2001 and a No. 2 class in 1997. Saia coached 10 Bruins who went onto the NBA.
Before joining UCLA’s staff, Saia was the head coach at Columbia College in Sonora. In his two seasons at Columbia, he led the team to a 61-10 overall record with two Central Valley Conference championships and two CVC Coach of the Year awards. In 1996, Columbia advanced to the Final Eight in the California junior college playoffs and ended the season with a 30-5 record. His 1995 squad was 31-5 and was ranked No. 7 in the state.
Saia was also an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level for Gary Colson at Fresno State (1990-94), Tates Locke at Indiana State (1989-90) and Lou Campanelli at California (1988-89).
In 1994, Saia was the head coach for the Athletes in Action USA team and in 1993 he coached the AIA’s Division I summer tour team.
Saia was also the director of the Fresno State Camp from 1990-94 and he has toured the country lecturing at clinics about offensive and defensive skills.
Saia’s playing career began at Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo. During his junior and senior seasons, he helped his teams to a 65-1 overall record and two state championships. He played at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from 1982-84 and helped the Mustangs to a 20-win season. He spent the 1984-85 season at College of Marin and led the Mariners to a state tournament appearance while earning all-conference honors and he concluded his career at Chapman University, where he earned the Best Defensive Player and Coaches awards.
He and his wife Stacey have four children: Jillian, Tatym, Dominic, and Hope.
