Lou Cvijanovich

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Lou Cvijanovich was the boys basketball coach for Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, California from 1958-1999. He is the winningest high school basketball coach in California history, with 829 wins.[1]

In addition to his 829 victories, Cvijanovich led the Santa Clara program to three California State Championships (1989, 1990 and 1999), 15 CIF Southern Section titles, the second highest total in California history, and 30 league championships, the most ever.[2] He coached several players who moved on to collegiate careers, including Nick Jones and B.J. Ward.

Cvijanovich was inducted into the California High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1998, the National High School Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Ventura County Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1996, Santa Clara High School re-named its gymnasium "Cjijanovich Gymnasium".[3]

In addition to his time as the basketball coach at Santa Clara, Cvijanovich was the head football coach for 17 years and the head baseball coach for 11 years. He posted 104 wins in football, earning a pair of CIF championships and seven league crowns. In his time as the baseball coach, Cvijanovich guided the Saints to a 114-30-2 record, one CIF title and five league championships.[4]

UCSB Basketball head coach Bob Williams was quoted in 2004 saying: "Coach Cvijanovich has meant so much to basketball in the state of California, but more than that he has been a great teacher and a tremendous role model for young people."[5]