York Larese


York Bruno Larese was an American basketball player and coach.

Amateur career

Larese was born in New York City and attended St. Ann's Academy in Queens. A 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. Larese was twice selected third-team All-American.

Pro career

Larese was one of the few players drafted twice by the NBA. First, he was selected by the St. Louis 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. 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, including Wilt Chamberlain's famous 100-point game. After being cut by the Warriors, Larese began a seven-year career in the Eastern Professional Basketball 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

In 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. 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

York Larese was married to Barbara Trockman and father of two sons and two daughters. He died on February 6, 2016, at the age of 77.

Career playing statistics

NBA

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Head coaching record

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