York Larese Explained

York Larese
Height Ft:6
Height In:4
Weight Lb:183
Birth Date:18 July 1938
Birth Place:New York City, New York, U.S.
Death Place:Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
High School:Saint Ann's Academy
(New York City, New York)
College:North Carolina (1958–1961)
Draft Year:1961
Draft Round:2
Draft Pick:20
Draft Team:Chicago Packers
Career Start:1961
Career End:1969
Career Number:23, 34
Career Position:Shooting guard
Team1:Chicago Packers
Team2:Philadelphia Warriors
Years3:1962–1963
Team3:Trenton Colonials
Years4:1963–1964
Team4:Williamsport Billies
Years5:1964–1965
Team5:Allentown Jets
Years6:1965–1966
Team6:Scranton Miners
Years7:1966–1969
Team7:Hartford Capitols
Cyears1:1969–1970
Cteam1:New York Nets
Highlights:
Stats League:NBA
Stat1label:Points
Stat1value:302 (5.3 ppg)
Stat2label:Rebounds
Stat2value:77 (1.3 rpg)
Stat3label:Assists
Stat3value:94 (1.6 apg)

York Bruno Larese (July 18, 1938 – February 6, 2016) was an American basketball player and coach.

Amateur career

Larese 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

Larese 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

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.[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

York 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

NBA

Source[4]

Regular season

YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGPPG
Chicago8 7.1 .476 .556 .8 1.1 3.1
Philadelphia51 12.7 .366 .841 1.4 1.7 5.4
Career59 11.9 .373 .806 1.3 1.6 5.1

Playoffs

YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGPPG
1962Philadelphia9 8.7 .314 .667 2.1 .6 3.3

Head coaching record

New York8439454th in Eastern734.429Lost in Division semifinalsSource[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: York Larese Bio – University of North Carolina Tar Heels Official Athletic Site . www.goheels.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160604184829/http://www.goheels.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3350&ATCLID=209520595 . 2016-06-04.
  2. News: Larese Replaces Raskin As Allentown Jets Coach . 12 November 2020 . The Morning Call . 23 January 1971 . Allentown, Pennsylvania . 13.
  3. Web site: YORK B. LARESE Obituary (1938–2016) Boston Globe. Legacy.com.
  4. Web site: York Larese NBA stats. Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. 20 January 2024.
  5. Web site: York Larese ABA Coaching Stats. Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. 20 January 2024.