Lorenzo Romar, former Pepperdine Men’s Basketball head coach, has concluded his tenure as head coach following the end of the 2023-24 Men’s Basketball season, Pepperdine Athletics confirmed to the Graphic.
Romar coached at Pepperdine from 1996-99 and 2018-24, where he had a 117-156 record with the Waves. Former players of his said Romar has an incredible character, and they are grateful for how Romar helped them grow as athletes and people.
“I love Coach Romar so much,” junior guard Houston Mallette said. “The lessons he’s taught me — just even more than basketball — just the life lessons have been incredible, and it’s something that you don’t really get many places.”
In a statement to the Graphic, President Jim Gash, praised Romar’s time at the University.
“I am grateful to Coach Romar for his outstanding commitment to the Men’s basketball team and to this university, and for his character, faith, and leadership on and off the court throughout the years he has dedicated to Pepperdine,” Gash wrote in a March 14 email to the Graphic. “I wish Coach Romar great success in his next chapter.”
Romar declined to do an interview for the Graphic about his tenure.
Playing Under Romar
After winning the College Basketball Invitational in 2020, Men’s Basketball had a 29-67 record and a 8-40 record in WCC play from 2021-24, according to Basketball Reference. Despite the team’s struggles, multiple players said Romar wouldn’t let the team’s performance drag anyone down.
“We didn’t win how we wanted to,” sophomore forward Jevon Porter said. “But every day, he still came to practice [and] came to the office with a good positive mindset and uplifting everybody, making everyone confident in themselves and in each other as a team.”
One aspect of the way Romar coached multiple players said was meaningful was how he would be completely honest with his players all the time. Whether it would be in the recruiting stage or after they came to Pepperdine, Romar would be honest about their role or playing time.
Even though he was never going to sugarcoat anything, Romar still saw value in all of his players and let them know that, said Seaver 2022, Graziado 2023 alumnus Jay Yoon, former Pepperdine Men’s Basketball guard.
“He would always candidly tell me, ‘This is what you’re good at; this is how you can improve; this is how you can get on the court; this is what makes you a leader on the team,’” Yoon said. “And I took that to heart because he wasn’t going to give me a sugar-coated answer.”
That honesty and establishing trust is why athletes want to play for him, said ’23 alumnus Majok Deng, former Pepperdine Men’s Basketball guard.
“That’s why so many people come to play for Romar,” Deng said. “Because they earn their playing time, and he’s gonna play who was trusted to be on the floor.”
One basketball lesson multiple players said they learned from Romar is one of confidence.
Yoon originally decided to come to Pepperdine without a spot on the basketball team but would attend summer pick-up sessions to attempt to be a walk-on to the team, according to previous Graphic reporting. Romar awarded Yoon a spot on the team, which he was very thankful for, Yoon said.
“For him to even take a chance, regardless of whether he thought I would play or not,” Yoon said. “Regardless of whether he thought I’d make an immediate impact on the team, for him to place his trust in me and allow me to experience something that many kids cannot experience — I’m so grateful.”
Porter said he credits the way he improved his performance from his freshman to sophomore year to the faith Romar had in him.
“The player I am now compared to the player I was when I first came into college is so completely different,” Porter said. “The confidence I have in myself now, the way I believe in myself — I’m just so grateful that he believed in me the way he did and that he showed me that time and time again.”
Coaching with Character
While his job may have been head coach, multiple players said his character helped teach them to be better people off the court.
Deng said Romar treated his players not only as athletes but also as family.
“He led us like a family,” Deng said. “It wasn’t just a hard nose basketball, which was also a part of it, but he also treated [us] like family, and those are amazing qualities that I take to how I want to lead my family in the future.”
For Yoon, he said Romar was a composed and stoic leader, which stood out when he addressed the team.
“He always knew the right thing to say in a situation where we’re young men, and a lot of emotions, a lot of aggression, as well,” Yoon said. “But he always knew how to handle a group of guys.”
Deng said one his favorite qualities of Romar was how he was available for all of his players no matter who they were. Romar and Deng would spend time together in the morning working on technical aspects, even though Romar didn’t have to be there.
“He could easily send a manager and assistant coach to come work with me,” Deng said. “But he took the time to come work with me, and I thought that was amazing.”
Romar made himself available to his athletes for more than just basketball, multiple players said. Mallette was able to go to Romar to discuss anything that may have been on his mind.
“He always allowed me a personal space in his office just to talk through things,” Mallette said. “Whether that be film — whether it be totally unrelated to basketball — and I really appreciate him for that.”
Another part of Romar’s character multiple players said they deeply respected was his devout faith. On every plane ride, Deng would sit down next to Romar, follow along with him as he read his Bible and ask him questions about faith.
For Mallette, he said Romar developing his players’ faith was more important than anything Romar taught people about basketball.
“At the end of the day, the ball stops dribbling for all of us,” Mallette said. “And we need to be able to act and represent ourselves the best way possible in life. Coach Romar made that a prominent topic of discussion.”
Now that Romar’s tenure is over, multiple players said they have no regrets about their time playing under him, despite the team’s results.
“There’s a lot of things we could have done differently to help us win games, but we all learn from it,” Mallette said. “We were a young team. This year, we are injured, but I don’t wish anything would have gone differently. I wish we could spend more time together.”
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