Inspiring Others
October 13, 2022 | Women's Basketball, Joel Coleman
MSU women’s hoops assistant coach Gabe Lazo loves being a mentor for other Latino coaches.
STARKVILLE – Gabe Lazo was just six or seven years old when the nickname, Pee-Wee, stuck. He had a brother 11 years older than him, so the name Pee-Wee just seemed to fit.
These days, Lazo is all grown up. He's now an assistant coach for Mississippi State women's basketball. But his path to MSU was paved using the characteristics he developed back when he was first called Pee-Wee.
"One of my biggest traits is being a hard worker," Lazo said. "I take pride in that. I always want to outwork everybody else."
Lazo's life has been a shining example for how hard work indeed pays off. And Lazo – of Latin descent with both parents from Cuba – loves using his own story to encourage others in the Latino community.
"I have a lot of high school coaches from all over the country that reach out to me and want me to mentor them," Lazo said. "High school coaches from all over the country see a Latino that has worked their way up. I feel I'm becoming somewhat of a small-scale inspiration. I will never forget where I'm from."
Lazo – a native of Miami – has a story that is full of interesting twists and turns. He was a high-level prep basketball player for Miami Senior High School. At Miami Senior, Lazo's coach was another Latino - former South Carolina men's head coach and current leader of the Massachusetts men's program, Frank Martin.
"Frank is an inspiration to me, and we're in contact a lot," Lazo said.
College basketball came calling for Lazo after his high school days. He played at FIU for the 2003-04 season and that work ethic of his was put on full display.
"I went from being a walk-on to starting point guard and having a great year," Lazo recalled. "That taught me a lot. It taught me that if you work, you're going to have opportunities."
Lazo made a couple of other stops in his playing career. He played for Miami-Dade Community College as well as Barry University.
However, it was shortly after all that Lazo got put on his current trajectory – even if he didn't see it coming.
"My story with coaching is funny, and I never thought I would be coaching," Lazo said. "A former girlfriend got me into coaching. I became her assistant coach, and we inherited the worst high school program in the state of Florida. They hadn't won a game in two years, and we developed that program. We trended into one of the top programs in Florida and competed for state championships."
Lazo was on his way. He'd learned coaching was indeed for him, and he started to work his way up the ladder.
Lazo became a three-time Miami Herald Dade County Coach of the Year as the head varsity girls coach at John A. Ferguson High School. Lazo really got on college coaches' radars when, during summers, he was guiding the Miami Suns of the Nike Girls Elite Youth Basketball League.
"That puts you on a national stage," Lazo said. "We had really good players, and relationships [I made] really helped [me]. You build consistent relationships and help others. We had good players and college coaches from across the country who would call and ask to be put on the phone with players. When you help others, they don't forget that."
One of the many coaches Lazo came in contact with during this period was now-MSU head women's coach Sam Purcell. That'd of course be beneficial down the line, but it wasn't where Lazo's collegiate coaching journey would start. To get his first opportunity, Lazo kept networking and knocking at the college coaching door.
"You go on the road and get to hang out with coaches," Lazo said. "You let them know what your dream is. I was never afraid to tell people I wanted to coach in college. I feel like there are a lot of high school coaches that are afraid to say this because it's a difficult jump. If you don't shoot your shot, you're never going to make it."
Well, Lazo has never been one to back down or be scared. His persistence paid off.
Lazo was hired by FIU women's basketball as an assistant for the Panthers. He spent two years at FIU before joining the Stony Brook program for two years under head coach Caroline McCombs. When McCombs was hired at George Washington University, Lazo went, too, and stayed there until Purcell brought him to Mississippi State earlier this year.
"Gabe brings an unbelievable work ethic and great energy to my staff," Purcell said at the time of Lazo's hire. "He has developed players at every level of basketball and has built key relationships with people all around the world. Those relationships that he has built at the AAU and high school levels and those at the college level will allow us to recruit the best student-athletes to Mississippi State."
Lazo has made it. His collegiate coaching career is now established and accelerating on the back of all his good, old-fashioned hard work.
Now, Lazo considers it part of his job to give back. He's a member of the advisory board for the Latino Association of Basketball Coaches. In the same way Martin and so many others have shaped Lazo, Lazo is determined to be the same kind of guiding light for others.
"The LABC has done a great job building an organization that's positively impacting people all over the world," Lazo said. "I've had coaches from Spain, Columbia, Mexico and all over the world that have heard my story. They want advice, and I love helping other people in that way."
Who could have ever imagined little Pee Wee would make it so far? Well, he has, and with how hard he had to work to get to this point, he'll never take any of it for granted.
"I'm super grateful and blessed to be here," Lazo said. "I didn't think this would happen."
