Peter Joseph Carril (July 10, 1930 – August 15, 2022) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach. He is best known as head coach of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

for 30 years and for his use of the "

Princeton offense The Princeton offense is an offensive basketball strategy which emphasizes constant motion, back-door cuts, picks on and off the ball, and disciplined teamwork. It was used and perfected at Princeton University by Pete Carril, though its roots ...

". He also coached at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Ep ...

and as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA).

Early life

Pedro José Carril was born in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,3 ...

, on July 10, 1930. His father, an immigrant from Spain, was employed as a steelworker at

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succ ...

for four decades and brought up his son as a single father. Carril attended Liberty High School in his hometown, where he was an all-state selection for

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. He then studied at

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General La ...

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river that joins the Delaware Ri ...

, playing

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 ...

for the

Lafayette Leopards The Lafayette Leopards represent the 23 Division I varsity athletic teams of Lafayette College and compete in the Patriot League. There are 11 men's teams, 11 women's teams, and one co-ed team. The club teams also compete as the Leopards. Tho ...

under Butch Van Breda Kolff. Carril was honored as a Little All-American during his

senior year Senior Year may refer to: * Senior (education), the final year in high school or college * ''Senior Year'' (2010 film), the 2010 film by Filipino director Jerrold Tarog * ''Senior Year'' (2022 film), a film starring Rebel Wilson * The Lockheed U-2 ...

in 1952. While at Lafayette, he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. After graduating from college, he served briefly in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

. He later obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in educational administration from

in 1959.

Career

High school coaching

Carril first worked as the junior varsity basketball coach and ninth grade Pennsylvania history teacher at

Easton Area High School } Easton Area High School is a four-year public high school located in Easton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley area of eastern Pennsylvania. It is part of the Easton Area School District. As of the 2020-21 school year, Easton Area High Sch ...

starting in 1954. In 1958, Carril became varsity coach at

Reading Senior High School Reading Senior High School, colloquially known as The Castle on The Hill, is a 9–12 public high school in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1927 and is part of the Reading School District. It is the largest traditional high school ...

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Phila ...

, where Gary Walters, the former

athletic director and earlier Princeton point guard played basketball under him in high school.

College coaching

After a year at

, Carril moved to

. In 29 years, he compiled a 514–261 (.663 winning percentage) record. He is also the only men's coach to win 500 games without the benefit of athletic scholarships for his players. He won or shared 13

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schoo ...

championships and received 11 NCAA tournament berths and 2 NIT bids. The Tigers won the NIT championship in 1975. Carril's Tigers had the nation's best scoring defense in 14 out of 21 years from 1975 to 1996, including eight in a row from 1988 to 1996. Games against Princeton were typically low-scoring affairs; for example, the 1990–91 and 1991–92 Tigers are the only teams to hold opponents below 50 points per game since the shot clock became mandatory for the 1985–86 season. Partly due to these factors, while his Tigers only won three NCAA Tournament games, they were known as a very dangerous first-round opponent; seven of their first round losses were by fewer than ten points. In 1989, Princeton took first-ranked Georgetown down to the wire, leading by eight points at halftime before losing 50–49. Had the Tigers won, they would have been the first #16 seed to defeat a #1 seed since the NCAA began seeding the tournament field in 1979. Seven years later, Carril's final collegiate victory was an upset of defending national champions

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 1996 by a score of 43–41, in what is considered one of the greatest upsets of all time. Carill's career collegiate coaching record, including one season at

, was 525–273. He was enshrined in both the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 1997, following his retirement from Princeton.

Sacramento Kings

Carril was an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings of the

for 10 years until his retirement in 2006. After Rick Adelman became Sacramento's head coach before the 1998–99 season, Carril helped Adelman install the Princeton offensive game plan and oversaw the Kings' development into one of the NBA's most potent offensive teams. During his tenure, the Kings were noted for their quick-passing offense, as well as their ability to stymie double teaming attempts from their opponents. In 2007, he volunteered as a coach with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

. He subsequently rejoined the Kings as an assistant for the 2009 season.

Personal life

Carril was married to Dolores Halteman. Together, they had two children: Peter and Lisa. They eventually divorced. Carril suffered a heart attack in 2000, which spurred him to quit smoking Macanudo cigars altogether. He died August 15, 2022 at Penn Hospital in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He was 92, and suffered a stroke prior to his death.

Head coaching record

Source:

Publications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carril, Pete 1930 births 2022 deaths American men's basketball players American people of Spanish descent Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Pennsylvania College men's basketball head coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in Pennsylvania Lafayette Leopards men's basketball players Lehigh Mountain Hawks men's basketball coaches Lehigh University alumni Liberty High School (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) alumni Military personnel from Pennsylvania Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Princeton Tigers men's basketball coaches Sacramento Kings assistant coaches Sportspeople from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the Korean War