The Princeton offense is an offensive

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 ...

strategy which emphasizes constant

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...

, back-door cuts, picks on and off the ball, and disciplined teamwork. It was used and perfected at

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 ...

Pete Carril Peter Joseph Carril (July 10, 1930 – August 15, 2022) was an American basketball coach. He is best known as head coach of Princeton University for 30 years and for his use of the "Princeton offense". He also coached at Lehigh University an ...

, though its roots may be traced back to Franklin “Cappy” Cappon, who coached

Princeton 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 ni ...

in the late 1930s, and Bernard "Red" Sarachek, who coached at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

from 1938 to 1977.

Concept

The offense is designed for a unit of five players who can each pass, shoot, and dribble at an above-average level. These players hope to isolate and exploit a mismatch using these skills. Positions become less important and on offense there is no point guard, shooting guard,

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

. However, there are certain rules that players running this offense are expected to follow. The offense usually starts out with four players outside the three-point arc with one player at the top of the key. The ball is kept in constant motion through passing until either a player without the ball cuts toward the unoccupied area under and around the basket, and is passed the ball for a

layup A layup in basketball is a two-point shot attempt made by leaping from below, laying the ball up near the basket, and using one hand to bounce it off the backboard and into the basket. The motion and one-handed reach distinguish it from a jump s ...

. The post player is a very important player in the offense. He sets up in the high post and draws attention to his positioning. When the ball is received in to the post the players main objective is to find back door cutters or defenders who have fallen asleep on the weak side. The hallmark of the offense is the backdoor pass, where a player on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

suddenly moves in towards the basket, receives a bounce pass from a guard on the perimeter, and (if done correctly) finds himself with no defenders between him and a

. Alternatively, when the defensive team attempts to pack the paint to prevent backdoor cuts, the offense utilizes three point shots from the perimeter. All five players in the offense—including the center—should be competent at making a three-point attempt, further spreading the floor, and not allowing the defense to leave any player unattended. The offense is often a very slowly developing one, relying on a high number of passes, and is often used in

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 ...

by teams facing opponents with superior athletic talent in order to maintain a low-scoring game (believing that a high-scoring game would favor the athletically superior opponent). As a result, Princeton has led the nation in scoring defense 19 times including in every year from 1989 to 2000.

Use at Princeton

During his tenure as head coach of

(1967–1996), Pete Carril compiled a 514–261 record, a .658 winning percentage. His teams won 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 school ...

championships during his 29-year tenure with the Tigers, and received 11 NCAA Tournament bids and two National Invitation Tournament berths. Princeton captured the NIT title in 1975. Perhaps Carril's greatest win was his final upset victory on a backdoor cut to give

the win 43 - 41 over the 1995 defending NCAA champion UCLA. The win extended Coach Carril's retirement by one game and is ranked as one of the bes
NCAA upsets
of all time. Former Princeton coach Sydney Johnson and his predecessors

Bill Carmody William D. Carmody (born December 4, 1951) is a retired American men's college basketball coach, formerly the head coach at the College of the Holy Cross. He was the head coach of the Wildcats men's basketball team at Northwestern University ...

, John Thompson III, and Joe Scott have all employed the Princeton offense.

Other examples of use

National Basketball Association

After his retirement from Princeton in 1996, Pete Carril served as an assistant coach for the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball 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 in the United St ...

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

until 2006. During his time with Sacramento, Carril helped

Rick Adelman Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adelman served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden ...

, who became the Kings' head coach in 1998, implement the Princeton offense. Carril returned to the Kings during the 2008–2009 season as a consultant. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers,

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

, and

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 ...

also have run versions of the Princeton offense. in the

introduced a modified version of Pete Carril's system to the Houston Rockets during the 2007–2008 season. Coach

Alvin Gentry Alvin Harris Gentry (born November 5, 1954) is an American professional basketball coach. A former college basketball player, Gentry has led six different NBA teams. He served as an interim head coach for the Miami Heat at the end of the 1994– ...

also implemented an altered version of it that shows similarities to the

triangle offense The triangle offense is an offensive strategy used in basketball. Its basic ideas were initially established by Hall of Fame coach Sam Barry at the University of Southern California. His system was further developed by former Houston Rockets and ...

during the Phoenix Suns′s 2012–13 season.

Eddie Jordan Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championship ...

implemented the Princeton offense as coach of the Washington Wizards from 2003 to 2008) and of the Philadelphia 76ers from 2009 to 2010.

College basketball

NCAA Division I

Besides Princeton, some of the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

teams best known for using the offense are: *

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

under Joe Scott, a former Carril player and protégé and former Princeton head coach * American under Mike Brennan, a former Princeton player and assistant coach *

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

under Craig Robinson, a former Princeton player and Northwestern assistant coach *

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

, under head coach

Jeff Bzdelik Jeffrey Joseph Bzdelik () (born December 1, 1952) is an American professional basketball coach who most recently served as associate head coach for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was head coach of the Den ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

under former Princeton coach Joe Scott * Georgetown under John Thompson III, who played under Carril at Princeton and was later Princeton′s head coach * Holy Cross under

, another Carril protégé and a former Princeton head coach *

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

under Charlie Coles *

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

under

Brian Jones Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...

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, ...

under

Steve Donahue Steve Donahue (born May 21, 1962) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Penn Quakers men's basketball team. He is the former head coach of Boston College and Cornell. Background Donahue is a native of Spring ...

, runs the "shuffle offense," loosely based on Princeton principles. * Notre Dame under

Muffet McGraw Ann "Muffet" McGraw (born December 5, 1955) is an American former college basketball coach, who served as the head women's basketball coach at Notre Dame from 1987 to 2020, compiling a 848–252 (.771) record over 33 seasons. She led her team t ...

Oregon State 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 col ...

under Craig Robinson, a former Princeton player and Northwestern assistant coach * Richmond under Chris Mooney, a former Princeton player and assistant coach at Air Force * Samford under

Jimmy Tillette Jimmy Tillette (born April 8, 1950) is an American college basketball coach and the former head coach of the men's basketball team at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Tillette was the head coach of the Bu ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

under

Tim Floyd Tim Floyd (born February 25, 1954) is a former American college basketball coach, most recently the head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He was formerly the head coach of several teams in the NCAA and the NBA. Floyd is also k ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

under

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birt ...

, loosely based on the general principles of the Princeton offense *

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, under coach

Bo Ryan William Francis "Bo" Ryan Jr. (born December 20, 1947) is an American former college basketball coach and player. He was the head coach of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Badgers men's basketball team from 2001 to December 2015. Ryan se ...

, ran the "swing offense," which was loosely based on the Princeton offense * William & Mary under Tony Shaver

NCAA Division II

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

colleges that have used the Princeton offense include: * Alabama-Huntsville under Lennie Acuff * Christian Brothers under Mike Nienaber * Rollins under Tom Klusman * Seattle Pacific under Jeff Hironaka

NCAA Division III

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

colleges that have used the Princeton offense include: * Maryville under Kevin Carroll * St. Thomas, (

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

) under John Tauer *

Nebraska Wesleyan University Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU) is a private Methodist-affiliated university in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was founded in 1887 by Nebraska Methodists. As of 2017, it has approximately 2,100 students including 1,500 full-time students and 300 ...

under Dale Wellman

NAIA

NAIA colleges that have used the Princeton offense include: * Westmont under John Moore NJCAA NJCAA colleges that have used the Princeton offense include: *

Mercer County Community College Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is a public, community college in Mercer County, New Jersey. More than 7,000 students enroll in one or more credit courses each year. Established in 1966, MCCC has an open-door admission policy. The West ...

under Howard Levy, a former Princeton player. * Bergen Community College (Paramus, New Jersey) under Will Caraballo.

High schools

High school basketball teams that have used the Princeton offense include: * Northridge High School (Johnstown, OH) 2008-2012 under John Wheeler * Oak Forest High School (Oak Forest, IL) 2008-2020 under Matt Manzke

Canada

* Cardinal Leger Secondary School (

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

) under Steve Pettit * Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School (

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

) under Kevin Sandher * Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School ( Courtenay, B.C.) under Tom Elwood

United States

* Arkansas Christian Academy ( Bryant,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

)under Ben Thomas * Benton Central Junior-Senior High School (

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

) under David Baxter * Christian Brothers Academy ( Lincroft,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

) under Ed Wicelinski *

Gibson Southern High School Gibson Southern High School is a public high school located in Fort Branch, Indiana. Academics Gibson Southern High School received the Indiana Four Star School Award for seven consecutive years. Athletics In 1974, Gibson Southern was origina ...

(

Fort Branch Fort Branch was a fort built by the Confederate Army especially to defend against attacks from the Union Army along the Roanoke River in North Carolina. The fort was originally built in 1862 along Rainbow Banks in Martin County, southeast of H ...

, Indiana) under Jerry O'Brien * Holy Cross High School ( Delran, New Jersey) under Barry Harper *

Indian Springs School Indian Springs School is a rural private school for grades eight through twelve, near Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It has both boarding and day students, and is located in Indian Springs Village, Shelby County, Alabama. History Indian S ...

( Indian Springs Village,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

) under Pete Arner * Lincoln County High School in West Hamlin,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, under Rodney Plumley * Memorial High School (

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

) under David Lay and under Jyusef Larry *

Haverford School , motto_translation = , address = 450 Lancaster Avenue , location = , region = , city = Haverford , county = , state = Pennsylvania , ...

(

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, approximately west of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) ope ...

) under Bernie Rogers *

Lower Merion High School Lower Merion High School is a public high school in Ardmore, a community in Philadelphia's Main Line suburbs. It is one of two high schools in the Lower Merion School District; the other one is Harriton High School. Lower Merion serves both Lo ...

(

Ardmore, Pennsylvania Ardmore is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) spanning the border between Delaware and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 12,455 at the 2010 census and had risen to 13,566 in the ...

) under Greg Downer *

Blair Academy Blair Academy is a coeducational, boarding and day school for students in high school. The school serves students from ninth through twelfth grades as well as a small post-graduate class. The school's campus is located on a campus in Blair ...

(

Blairstown, New Jersey Blairstown is a township in Warren County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Blairstown's population was 5,704. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 5,967 Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

, Youth Basketball of America, and United States Basketball Association teams that have used the Princeton offense include: * 43 Express Basketball (

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) under Chad Jackson, Sr. * KY Grind Basketball (

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

) under Lee DeForest

References

Footnotes

Sources

"Princeton Offense Keeps Hoyas on the Move"
''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'', Mike Wise, March 23, 2006; Page E12.
"On the Offensive: Inside the Wizards "Princeton Offense""
'' WashingtonWizards.com'', Dave Johnson, December 28, 2006
"Reading (the defense) is fundamental"
Fran Fraschilla; ESPN.
DeForest, Lee: "Secrets of the Princeton Offense," Coach Princeton Basketball

"Hoyas arrive at Atlanta through back door" Randy Hill / Special to FOXSports.com, 3/28/2007
* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/30/sports/ncaabasketball/30carril.html?em&ex=1175400000&en=2e036118ebdaaab4&ei=5087%0A "Carril Is Yoda to Notion of Perpetual Motion" New York Times, March 30, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Princeton Offense Basketball terminology Princeton Tigers men's basketball History of college basketball in the United States Basketball strategy