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Every night in the Gottlieb household, the dinner conversation turned to one of two things - court cases or sports. In a family of lawyers, the former was bound to happen. For one person, however, the interest was certainly in the latter.
So, instead of following in the footsteps already created by her family, Lindsay Gottlieb decided to create her own path and venture into the world of sports. So far, it's been an excellent choice.
"I majored in political science and as intellectually interesting as it was, I didn't want to sit in a law office everyday," Gottlieb said. "My mind was constantly on sports."
Having been part of four successful women's basketball programs, Gottlieb's first head coaching job comes at a program that is synonymous with success. Formerly the associate head coach at Cal, Gottlieb becomes the first coach at UCSB not named Mark French since the 1986-87 season and just the fourth coach in program history.
Gottlieb comes to Santa Barbara after spending the last three seasons as an integral part of the Golden Bears' staff, where she helped guide the team to an overall record of 68-28 (.708) over that span, helping turn around a previously moribund program that had suffered through 13 consecutive losing seasons before her arrival.
In her first year as associate head coach under Joanne Boyle, Gottlieb helped Cal register an impressive 27-7 mark last season, which set a school record for wins. The Bears earned a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and advanced to the second round before being upset by George Washington, 55-53.
"It was about creating a culture of excellence," Gottlieb says of Cal's transformation. "We were eighth in the Pac-10 when we got there. By the end of last season, we were eighth in the country."
The Scarsdale, N.Y. native worked with all aspects of the program during her tenure at Cal, including recruiting and scouting and served as the team's academic liaison. Gottlieb was an integral part of the development of the Golden Bears' post players and worked extensively with Devanei Hampton and Ashley Walker, who were both named State Farm/WBCA honorable mention All-Americans in 2007-08.
Cal posted its first winning season in 13 years in Gottlieb's first year on the staff in 2005-06 and the Bears qualified for the Big Dance for the first time since 1993. In 2006-07, Gottlieb helped Cal to an overall record of 23-9 and the Bears earned another bid to the NCAA Tournament after posting their best-ever Pac-10 finish at 12-6.
Prior to her arrival at Cal, Gottlieb was an assistant coach under Boyle for three seasons at the University of Richmond, where she helped lead the Spiders to three straight 20-win seasons and a postseason appearance each year. In 2004-05 Richmond finished with a 23-8 overall record and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in 14 years. The Spiders qualified for the WNIT in 2003 and 2004. In her time at Richmond, Gottlieb coached former Santa Barbara High School standout Araceli Gil, now the director of operations for the UCSB women's basketball team.
Before joining the staff at Richmond, Gottlieb served as an assistant coach at New Hampshire in 2001-02, under head coach Sue Johnson, which is where she met Kelly Barsky, now one of the Gauchos' assistant coaches. She was also an assistant coach for two years at Syracuse alongside Marianna Freeman and obtained additional coaching expertise with the Westchester Basketball Association AAU program and Kutsher's Sports Academy.
While at Syracuse, Gottlieb earned her master's degree in philosophy of education.
Gottlieb's playing career consisted of three seasons at Brown - where she graduated in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in political science - and one year in Australia when she was a junior studying abroad at the University of New South Wales.
After playing for Brown she was a student assistant coach during the 1998-99 campaign and received the Team Heart and Soul Award in 1999.
The 31-year old takes over a Gaucho squad that went 23-8 overall last season and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
"I knew I was ready to be a head coach, but I wasn't going to just go anywhere," Gottlieb said. "I was in a great situation at Cal, but UCSB was the right fit for me. I was attracted to four main factors.
"One, academics. No coach can guarantee wins, but I can guarantee that my players here will receive a tremendous education.
"Two, location. Life doesn't get much better than it is in Santa Barbara.
"Three, there is a winning tradition here. With the community support and administrative backing we have, this is one of the country's best spots to play women's basketball.
"Four, there's an even higher level we can get to and that excites and motivates me."
