Pete Strickland (born May 25, 1957) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach and former

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 ...

player, currently the interim head

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

DeMatha Catholic High School DeMatha Catholic High School is a four-year Catholic high school for boys located in Hyattsville, Maryland, United States. Named after John of Matha, DeMatha is under the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and is a member of the Washington Ca ...

Playing career

Strickland attended

near

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he played

high school 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 ...

for

Morgan Wootten Morgan Bayard Wootten (April 21, 1931January 21, 2020) was an American high school basketball coach for 46 seasons at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. He led the Stags to five national championships and 33 Washington Catholi ...

. He then attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

where he played for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

(1975–1979). With the Panthers, Strickland was a three-year starter and two-year captain.

Player-coach

In 1980, Strickland became

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the

Neptune Basketball Club Neptune Basketball Club is an Irish basketball club based in Cork. Founded in 1947 following input from members of the Irish Defence Forces in developing citizen's clubs, Neptune is the oldest and most successful basketball club in Ireland. Base ...

based in Cork, Ireland. Strickland had been recruited to play in Ireland by an international scout who saw him play in an alumni game in Pittsburgh. In his first season as player-coach, Strickland's team went 18–0 and won the league title. In 1981, in preparation for the "Neptune International Basketball Tournament" to be held in March in Cork, Strickland recruited a number of his American friends to form a “Maryland All-Stars" team for the tournament, in exchange for round-trip airline tickets to Ireland. The All-Star team was eliminated from the tournament by a Cork-based team on a last-second

three-pointer A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two po ...

. That an Irish team was able to defeat an American team was credited with helping to increase the popularity of basketball in Ireland.

Coaching career

Strickland coached at the high school level from 1983 through 1988. He then held assistant coaching roles at the college level from 1988 through 1998. In April 1998, he became head coach at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

, a role he held until March 2005. His overall record in seven seasons with the Chanticleers was 70–127; the team was 42–56 in the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

. Strickland was next an assistant coach at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

, from 2005 until he was not retained by

Mark Gottfried Mark Frederick Gottfried (born January 20, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former player who most recently served as head coach of the Cal State Northridge Matadors Gottfried played one season at Oral Roberts and three se ...

when

Sidney Lowe Sidney Rochell Lowe (born January 21, 1960) is an American former basketball player and coach. He is currently an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lowe played college basketball and served ...

resigned at the end of the Wolfpack's 2010–11 season. Strickland then served as an assistant coach at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

, from 2011 through 2013. Strickland was named head coach of the Ireland national team in November 2016. In the

2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries The 2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries was the 16th edition of this tournament. It was hosted by San Marino. Teams Seven teams played in the competition, with the return of Norway, 17 years after their last appearance in a FIBA c ...

, Ireland finished in third place, with an overall record of 2–2 during the tournament.

Head coaching record

Sources:

References

External links

* (personal website)
Coaching Record
at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC, is an American company which operates several sports-related websites, including Sports-Reference.com, Baseball-Reference.com for baseball, Basketball-Reference.com for basketball, Hockey-Reference.com for ice hockey, Pro- ...

Interview
with

Cork's Red FM Cork's RedFM is an Republic of Ireland, Irish radio station which broadcasts to Cork (city), Cork and the surrounding area, and is aimed at a youth audience. The station commenced broadcasting on 16 January 2002" and was awarded Ireland's first y ...

via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...