Paul B. Valenti (September 10, 1920 – September 13, 2014) was an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach, known for his long association with

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

. The son of Italian immigrants from

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

, Valenti played basketball for coach

Slats Gill Amory Tingle "Slats" Gill (May 1, 1901 – April 5, 1966) was an American college basketball coach, the head coach at Oregon State University in Corvallis for 36 seasons. As a player, Gill was twice named to the All- Pacific Coast Conference bask ...

at Oregon State from 1939 to 1942. After a stint in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Valenti returned to Corvallis in 1946 as an assistant to Gill, and served in that position for 18 years. Valenti got his first taste of head coaching during the 1959–60 season as he served as interim head coach of the Beavers when Gill fell ill. Valenti followed his mentor as head coach in 1964. He had his best season in 1965–66, leading the Beavers to the AAWU (now the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

) title and a berth in the 1966 NCAA Tournament, after being picked to finish last in the league. His 1965-66 unit was the only team other than

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

to win an AAWU/Pac-8/Pac-10 title between 1963–64 and 1978-79. In his six full seasons as head coach, Valenti compiled a 91–82 record. Valenti is a member of the Oregon State Athletic Hall of Fame and the

Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Hall of Honor The Pac-12 Conference Hall of Honor recognizes former athletes and coaches who have made a significant impact to the tradition and heritage of the Pac-12 Conference. Established in 2002, one honoree is selected by each member institution in the co ...

. He died aged 94 on September 13, 2014.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Paul Valenti Oral History Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valenti, Paul 1920 births 2014 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players United States Navy personnel of World War II American people of Italian descent Basketball players from California College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Forwards (basketball) Oregon State Beavers men's basketball coaches Oregon State Beavers men's basketball players People from Mill Valley, California Oregon State Beavers baseball coaches