Career
He had spent the previous five seasons on the staff of the Indiana Hoosiers men"s basketball team As an assistant at Colorado, McClain served as acting head coach during the absence of head coach Jeff Bzdelik for a portion of the 2009-2010 season. He helped lead the Buffaloes to a 15–16 record, with seven of those losses coming by six points or less.
McClain was the head basketball coach at Wyoming from 1998 to 2006.
In four out of his 9 seasons, Wyoming had made it to either the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, or the National Institute of Technology tournament. His overall record at Wyoming was 157–115.
However, after a disappointing 2006 campaign where he went 17–15, with no National Institute of Technology berth, he was fired. In the 2002 National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament, Wyoming made it to the second round, which was their best finish in a long time.
He was named the MWC coach of the year that season.
Steve McClain was known for his very animated and intense coaching style during games. In six out of the 8 seasons he has coached in the MWC, at least one of his players has received First team All MWC honors.