When Lorenzo Romar and Mark Gottfried were assistant coaches at UCLA under Jim Harrick, helping the Bruins to the 1995 national championship, the ambitious up-and-comers would carpool to Westwood.
Now back in Southern California as veteran head coaches with new schools — Romar at Pepperdine and Gottfried at Cal State Northridge — the former neighbors in Calabasas are settling into new homes and new programs, which will face off Nov. 10 at Pepperdine.
They were always on the same track, with Gottfried splitting nearly two decades between Alabama and North Carolina State and Romar jumping to St.