Gabriel Lazo enters his second season on the FIU women’s basketball staff in 2018-19. Lazo, who played for the FIU men’s basketball squad for two seasons (2004-06), comes to the Panther women’s basketball program after serving as head coach of John A. Ferguson High School in Miami over the course of five seasons prior.
"I'm very excited to add Coach Lazo to my staff," said Malcom. "He has proven himself to be very successful at the high school level, and I am very excited to watch him experience success at this level. He has deep recruiting connections and strong ties to the South Florida community."
Under head coach Tiara Malcom, Lazo aided the Panthers to one of their best seasons in recent years as FIU won eight games to mark the most victories by any squad since 2013-14. FIU also won five C-USA games in 2017-18, which was also the most since 2013-14.
Prior to FIU, Lazo was the head coach at John A. Ferguson High School in Miami, which advanced to the 9A State title game in 2017. After his first two seasons at Ferguson, Lazo was promoted from assistant to head coach and led the Falcons to their first-ever district and later regional championships. The "Miami Herald" selected Lazo as the Co-Girl's Coach of the Year for large schools in 2014-15 and the sole winner of the award in his final two seasons. Five of his players in 2017 were All-Dade County selections, and he has coached two Players of the Year, including the current 9A award-winner.
As a player, Lazo was a point guard for the Panthers for two seasons (2004-06) before finishing his collegiate career at Barry, where he received a degree in education in 2008. He has been an assistant and head coach of the Nike Elite Team Larkins for the past four summers, enhancing his coaching resume and profile. Lazo was a teacher for three semesters in area schools until moving into an administrative role at Ferguson prior to the 2012-13 academic year.
