UIC fires basketball coach Steve McClain after 5 seasons
CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois-Chicago has fired basketball coach Steve McClain after five seasons. McClain went 76-93 with the Flames, including a 42-48 record in the Horizon League. UIC was 18-17 this season and reached the Horizon League Tournament final, but lost 71-62 to Northern Kentucky.
Steve McClain will not return next season as head coach of UIC men's basketball, Director of Athletics Michael Lipitz announced today, March 13.
"We thank Coach McClain for his contributions over the past five seasons and sincerely appreciate his efforts on behalf of our program and student-athletes," said Lipitz. "We are committed to men's basketball returning to the NCAA Tournament and developing a national presence and determined that a change in program leadership was needed at this time."
McClain posted a 76-93 (.450) overall record, including a 42-48 (.467) mark in Horizon League play. His teams made two postseason appearances, advancing to the 2017 College Basketball Invitational (CBI) semifinals and finishing as runners-up in the 2018 CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
UIC concluded its 2019-20 season with a 18-17 record, tied for 4th place in the Horizon League regular season, and made a run to the conference tournament final.
A national search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
McClain was an assistant to Dave Farrar when Hutchinson won it's first NJCAA National Championship in 1988 and then served as head coach of the Blue Dragons for 3 years winning HutchCC's 2nd National Championship in 1994. McClain moved on in 1994 to assist Billy Tubbs at TCU before going to Wyoming as Head Coach of the Cowboys in the late 90's. He also served as an assistant at Colorado and Indiana before being named head coach at Illinois-Chicago. McClain is a member of the Hutchinson Quarter Back Club Hall of Fame as well.