Georgia State coach Rob Lanier, fresh off NCAA appearance, headed to SMU

Georgia State is looking for a new basketball coach now that Rob Lanier has been lured away to become the head coach at Southern Methodist University.

Lanier’s courtship with SMU began Thursday, when he flew to Dallas to interview with school officials. It culminated with him being announced as their new coach Sunday afternoon. Lanier, 53, signed a five-year deal worth $10 million to replace Tim Jankovich, who retired after six seasons.

“I couldn’t be more honored to lead the program on the Hilltop,” Lanier said Sunday. “SMU’s location in the heart of Dallas, the beautiful campus, stellar academic reputation and overall commitment to excellence makes it the perfect fit for me and my family. I’m excited to get to work and take this program to the next level.”

Lanier met with the Georgia State players on Saturday to deliver the news.

Lanier is expected to take GSU assistant Chris Kreider and director of operations Kyle Condon with him to SMU. Veteran assistant Cliff Warren, who was the head coach at Jacksonville for nine seasons, could also join Lanier, if he is not promoted to head coach at Georgia State.

Lanier inherits an SMU program that went 24-9, finished second in the American Athletic Conference and reached the second round of the NIT.

Lanier went 53-30 in three seasons at Georgia State and took the Panthers to the Sun Belt Championship this season. Georgia State advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 and lost a competitive 93-72 game against No. 1-ranked Gonzaga in the first round. The Panthers were down by only two points with 10 minutes remaining.

In addition to the effort at the NCAA tourney, Lanier drew attention for navigating the team through problems with injuries and COVID the last two years. In 2020-21, Georgia State beat Georgia Tech in four overtimes – its first victory over an ACC team – and lost in the conference championship game. In 2021-22, the Panthers started 0-4 in the conference, ended the season by winning 10 of their last 11 games and claimed the Sun Belt Tournament for the fourth time.

Lanier previously served as the head coach at Siena and worked as an assistant at Tennessee, Texas, Florida and Virginia. Lanier was hired at Georgia State after Ron Hunter left to become the head coach at Tulane.

“I was 14 years between head coaching jobs, and Georgia State gave me an opportunity when no one else would give me a phone interview,” Lanier said.