Raymond Bryan Giacoletti (born April 14, 1962) is a retired men's

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, having served as head coach at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

, and The

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. He played collegiate basketball at

Minot State University Minot State University (MSU or MiSU) is a public university in Minot, North Dakota. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, Minot State University is the third-largest university in North Dakota, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

from 1980 to 1984, where he was a four-year letterman and a team captain for two seasons. He received his degree in physical education in 1985. Giacoletti was previously the head coach at

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...

, and the

. At Utah, he was a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award in 2005, he was also named the 2005

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

National Coach of the Year. Giacoletti resigned as Drake coach on December 6, 2016.

Coaching history

Born in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

, Giacoletti began coaching in 1984 when he was named a student assistant coach at Minot State while finishing up his degree. Giacoletti then became a graduate assistant at

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. History Western Illin ...

during the 1985–86 season. After spending a year at Western Illinois, Giacoletti became an assistant coach for

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...

during the 1986–87 season. After 3 seasons at the collegiate level, Giacoletti moved to the professional ranks, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Fresno Flames of the old

World Basketball League World Basketball League (WBL) was a minor professional basketball league in the United States and Canada that ran from 1988 to 1992. It was founded as the International Basketball Association in November 1987, before changing its name prior to the 1 ...

. Giacoletti then returned to college coaching in the 1989 season, where he was named an assistant head coach under Bob Bender at

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a Public university, public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is reco ...

. After three seasons with Illinois State, Bender was named the head coach of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, where Giacoletti accepted an assistant position with the program. He was an assistant coach with the Washington Huskies from 1993 to 1997, until he accepted the head coaching job at

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

. By accepting the head coaching job at North Dakota State, Giacoletti returned to the state where he spent his collegiate years. In his first season as a head coach, Giacoletti guided North Dakota State to an 18–9 (.667) record. In his second season, North Dakota State finished with a 14–13 record and in his third season as coach, they went 16–11. Giacoletti would then leave North Dakota State for the head coaching job at

. His final overall record at North Dakota State was 48–33. In 2000 Giacoletti was named the head coach of the Eastern Washington Eagles. He would guide the Eagles to their best four year stretch in program history. Giacoletti would compile a 69–50 (.580) record as head coach at Eastern Washington, including a 41–17 (.707) record in

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eigh ...

play. In his third season as head coach of Eastern Washington, Giacoletti led the Eagles to an 18–13 record and the school's first post season tournament in school history, making the 2003

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 ...

. Giacoletti's best season was the 2003–2004 season, where the Eagles went 17–13 (11–3 in Big Sky play) and won the Big Sky Conference Championship. Giacoletti then guided the team to its first ever Big Sky tournament championship and the school's first ever NCAA tournament appearance. Eastern Washington would lose to highly favored

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

in the first round. After successful stints with North Dakota State and Eastern Washington, Giacoletti was named the head coach of the

Utes. He replaced the legendary

Rick Majerus Richard Raymond Majerus (February 17, 1948 – December 1, 2012) was an American basketball coach and TV analyst. He coached at Marquette University (1983–1986), Ball State University (1987–1989), the University of Utah (1989–2004), and S ...

, who retired in the middle of the 2003–2004 season. In his three seasons at Utah, Giacoletti led Utah to a 54–40 (.574) record. In Giacoletti's first season, the Utes went 29–6 (.829) and won the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

regular season championship. After beating

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stu ...

in the first round, the 6th seeded Utes upset 3rd seeded

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

in the 2nd round to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16. It was the school's first Sweet 16 since the 1998 season, when Utah finished as the NCAA runner-up to Kentucky. Ironically, it was Kentucky who would beat Utah once again, ending the 2nd winningest season in school history. During Giacoletti's tenure,

Andrew Bogut Andrew Michael Bogut (born 28 November 1984) is an Australian former basketball player who spent the majority of his professional career playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The tall center was selected by the Milwaukee Buck ...

was named the

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

winner and became the #1 draft pick in the 2005 NBA draft – joining fellow University of Utah student-athlete

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football at Utah, where he received first-team All-American honors and won the 20 ...

as the only time that two athletes from the same school were selected #1 in their respective drafts in the same year. Giacoletti was named the 2005 Mountain West Coach of the Year, after guiding the Utes to a 13–1 conference record, the best record in conference history. Giacoletti's second season was dramatically different from his first. Gone was All-American Andrew Bogut, starting point guard Marc Jackson graduated, Justin Hawkins decided to transfer to New Mexico State and Richard Chaney transferred to Troy State, all major players in Utah's Sweet 16 run the season before. The Utes struggled with a young team and finished with the school's first losing record since the 1989 season, with a record of 14–15. Giacoletti's third season saw a further decline and the Utes had their worst season since 1983–84 (11–19). His approval rating among fans plummeted and many Ute fans sought his resignation. There were even a few anti-Giacoletti web sites that popped up including Giacolettimustgo.com. A day before Utah's final regular season game, versus conference rival BYU, he resigned as Head Basketball coach effective at the end of the season. At Drake, Giacoletti's teams got worse each season, just as at Utah (based on won-loss records). He resigned after 3+ seasons at Drake with a 32–69 record. On March 26, 2007, Giacoletti replaced former Gonzaga assistant coach

Bill Grier William Theodore Grier (born October 19, 1963) is an American college basketball coach. He is currently an assistant coach at the University of Colorado and was formerly the head men's basketball coach at the University of San Diego. Early caree ...

as an assistant coach. Giacoletti's overall coaching record is 203–192 (.514) in 14 seasons. Giacoletti owns a 2–2 overall record in the NCAA Tournament and an 0–1 record in the National Invitation Tournament.

Head coaching record

''*Resigned on December 6, 2016, with

Jeff Rutter Jeff Rutter (born January 28, 1965) is an American basketball coach. He currently serves as an assistant men's basketball coach at Western Michigan. Rutter also served as the interim head coach at Drake from December 2016 to March 2017. Coaching ...

taking over for the rest of the 2016–17 season.''

References