Pete Carril
From Hoopedia
Peter J. "Pete" Carril (born July 10, 1930 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States) is a former professional and collegiate basketball coach. He is credited with perfecting, if not inventing the "Princeton Offense".
One of the most respected men in basketball, Carril retired from coaching in 2006 after spending ten season as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings.
In a crowning achievement to his legendary collegiate coaching career, Carril was rewarded with an induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 29, 1997.
After coaching 30 years in the NCAA ranks, Carril joined the Kings prior to the 1996-97 campaign. His addition to the Kings’ coaching staff reunited him with Geoff Petrie (president, basketball operations), whom he coached at Princeton from 1968-70. The veteran coach’s duties with the Kings include an emphasis on individual player development and offensive schemes.
The winningest coach in Ivy League history (525-273, .658 winning percentage), Carril’s career at Princeton included 13 conference titles, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, and just one losing season. Prior to his retirement following the 1996 NCAA Tournament, he was the only active NCAA Division I head coach to reach the 500-victory plateau without athletic scholarships. In his final season as head coach at Princeton, he led the Tigers to the Ivy League Championship with a 22-7 record. In one of the most thrilling moments of the 1996 NCAA Tournament, Carril’s Tigers upset defending champion UCLA in the first round, 43-41, on a signature Carril-designed backdoor layup with only 3.8 seconds remaining in the game.
Son of Spanish immigrants in the USA, Carril is a graduate of Bethlehem High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where he was an all-state selection for Pennsylvania in the 1947-48 season. Carril played collegiate ball at Lafayette College under Head Coach Butch Van Breda Kolff. Following his graduation from Lafayette in 1952, Carril began his coaching career at the high school level where he stayed for 12 years. He went on to become head coach at Lehigh University for one season before beginning his stay at Princeton in 1967.
Carril is the proud father of two children, Peter and Lisa, as well as two grandchildren. He enjoys going on long walks and playing tennis. Carril currently resides in Roseville.
