Robert Sasone is 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 ...

player and coach.

Career

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Sassone went to

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,381 undergraduate and graduate students. The Franciscan Brothers established the university in 1858. In athletics, the St. Bonaventure Bonn ...

on a basketball scholarship the fall of 1949. He led the team to the

1951 National Invitation Tournament The 1951 National Invitation Tournament was the fourteenth edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Held in New York City at Madison Square Garden, its championship was on Saturday, March 17, and BYU defeated Dayton by nineteen ...

as a sophomore. He was credited as the first player in college basketball history to take a charge from the opposing player, thus getting the ball for his team. He graduated in 1953 and was drafted in the third round of the NBA draft by the

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden St ...

. He was drafted into the US Army and served from September 1953 to September 1955 He passed on the NBA to become an educator and raise a family. Sassone coached Olean High School to a basketball championships in 1968. He resigned in 1968 to rejoin St. Bonaventure as an assistant coach. Sassone represented St . Bonaventure in thirteen post season tournaments as a player and a coach.was an integral part of their Final Four team in 1970 as well as the 1977 National Invitational Championship. He went on to coach overseas every summer In 2009, he was asked to contribute analysis for sashavujacic18.com. Sasha was a player on the LA Lakers who came from Slovenia, formerly a part of Yugoslavia. His coaching experience included giving clinics in Yugoslavia and Italy from 1978 to 1990. His specialty was coaching defense and he coached numerous Yugoslavian players who went to the NBA.

Awards

*Sassone is a 1990 St. Bonaventure Sports Hall of Fame inductee. *Sassone led A. Lincoln HS to the New York City PSAL Basketball Championship in 1949. He was chosen to the Journal American All City first team. He led St. Bonaventure University (SBU) to the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

(NIT) in 1951 and 1952. He was chosen to the All NIT team in 1952. *He was an Assistant Basketball coach at St. Bonaventure 1957–1961, and 1968–1982. He also took part in thirteen post season tournaments as a player and coach at SBU. He was a coach in the 1970 Final Four and the 1977 National Invitational Tournament Championship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sassone, Robert St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball coaches St. Bonaventure Bonnies men's basketball players Living people Sportspeople from Brooklyn Philadelphia Warriors draft picks United States Army soldiers American men's basketball players Year of birth missing (living people)