York Bruno Larese (July 18, 1938 – February 6, 2016) was an American basketball player and coach.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 18, 1938 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 6, 2016 (aged 77) Medford, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Listed weight | 183 lb (83 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Saint Ann's Academy (New York City, New York) |
| College | North Carolina (1958–1961) |
| NBA draft | 1961: 2nd round, 20th overall pick |
| Selected by the Chicago Packers | |
| Playing career | 1961–1969 |
| Position | Shooting guard |
| Number | 23, 34 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1961 | Chicago Packers |
| 1961–1962 | Philadelphia Warriors |
| 1962–1963 | Trenton Colonials |
| 1963–1964 | Williamsport Billies |
| 1964–1965 | Allentown Jets |
| 1965–1966 | Scranton Miners |
| 1966–1969 | Hartford Capitols |
| As coach: | |
| 1969–1970 | New York Nets |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 302 (5.3 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 77 (1.3 rpg) |
| Assists | 94 (1.6 apg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Amateur career
editLarese was born in New York City and attended St. Ann's Academy (now Archbishop Molloy High School) in Queens. A 6'4" (1.93 m) guard, he attended the University of North Carolina, leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in foul shooting in 1959–60 with 86.8 percent, which stood as the single-season UNC mark for 25 years.[1] (That season included a 21-for-21 effort against Duke, which is still an ACC record.) Larese was twice selected third-team All-American (in 1958–59 and 1960–61).
Pro career
editLarese was one of the few players drafted twice by the NBA (whose rules at the time permitted this). First, he was selected by the St. Louis Hawks (now Atlanta Hawks) in the 1960 NBA draft, but chose to return to Chapel Hill; he was drafted again in 1961, this time by the Chicago Packers (now the Washington Wizards). Larese played eight games for Chicago before being waived on November 29, 1961; the Philadelphia Warriors signed him as a free agent the next day. Larese played 60 games for the Warriors (51 in the regular season and nine in the playoffs), including Wilt Chamberlain's famous 100-point game. (Larese scored nine points in that contest, and would often joke that he and Wilt scored 109 points between them.) After being cut by the Warriors, Larese began a seven-year career in the Eastern League, winning a championship with the Allentown Jets in 1965. He played from 1966 to 1969 with the EBA's Hartford Capitols, taking over as player/coach in 1968.
Coaching career
editIn 1969, Larese moved up to the big-league basketball coaching ranks, taking the reins of the New York Nets of the ABA. The job was temporary, however; Larese agreed to coach the Nets for only one season, while Lou Carnesecca got out of his contract helming St. John's. After a 39–45 record and a fourth-place finish, Larese took a job with a shoe firm, Converse Rubber Co., on Long Island. In January 1971, Larese returned to Allentown to take over his old team, the Jets.[2] After leading Allentown to the EBA playoffs that spring, however, Larese found that coaching the Jets was taking too much time away from his executive position at the shoe company, and so resigned at the end of the year.
Personal life
editYork Larese was married to Barbara (Connally) Trockman and father of two sons (Keith and York, Jr.) and two daughters (Kimberly and Karen). He died on February 6, 2016, at the age of 77.[3]
Career playing statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA
editSource[4]
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961–62 | Chicago | 8 | 7.1 | .476 | .556 | .8 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| 1961–62 | Philadelphia | 51 | 12.7 | .366 | .841 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 5.4 |
| Career | 59 | 11.9 | .373 | .806 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 5.1 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Philadelphia | 9 | 8.7 | .314 | .667 | 2.1 | .6 | 3.3 |
Head coaching record
edit| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 1969–70 | 84 | 39 | 45 | .464 | 4th in Eastern | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost in Division semifinals |
Source[5]
References
edit- ^ "York Larese Bio – University of North Carolina Tar Heels Official Athletic Site". www.goheels.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-04.
- ^ "Larese Replaces Raskin As Allentown Jets Coach". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. 23 January 1971. p. 13. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ "YORK B. LARESE Obituary (1938–2016) Boston Globe". Legacy.com.
- ^ "York Larese NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ "York Larese ABA Coaching Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 20 January 2024.