Steve Carfino (born August 28, 1962) is an American former
basketball player
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 ...
, who played for the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
in college basketball and later in the Australian
National Basketball League. After retiring he became a
television commentator, focusing on basketball, occasionally covering other sports. He is the younger brother of former
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
player
Don Carfino.
Basketball career
High school
Carfino attended
St. John Bosco High School in
Bellflower, California
Bellflower is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 79,190, up ...
. He was a High School All-American selection.
Public service
Carfino is a patron of CBC (Cammeray Book Club) which helps in men's mental health awareness.
College career
Carfino attended the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
, as a guard, recruited by
Lute Olson
Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head c ...
and finishing his last season under
George Raveling
George Henry Raveling (born June 27, 1937) is an American former college basketball player and coach. He played at Villanova University, and was the head coach at Washington State University the University of Iowa and the University of Southern ...
. The Hawkeyes played in 3 NCAA Tournaments in Carfino's four seasons. In his final year at Iowa, he was named in the All Big Ten, and was also named the
Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Hawkeyes for that season. As a Senior, Carfino averaged 11.7 points, 1.8 Rebounds and 2.4 assists. For his career he scored 1007 points on .489 shooting from the floor and .716 from the free throw line.
NBA draft
After this, Carfino was drafted by the
Boston Celtics in the
NBA in the last selection of the 6th round. He was cut by the Celtics in August 1984.
Temporary retirement
After leaving the Celtics Carfino stepped away from basketball, operating a sports store in
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, between September 1984 and July 1985.
Australia
Steve played five seasons in the
NBL between 1986 and 1991. He was forced to retire from playing after the 1991 NBL season at the age of 29 due to ongoing back problems.
Hobart Devils
Carfino was invited to play pro ball in Australia. He took the opportunity to follow in the foot-steps of other great 'import' players that had made a big impact on the game down-under, and elevated the league to new levels through the 80s. His Australian career started when he moved to Hobart and played with the
Hobart Devils
The Hobart Devils are a defunct professional basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). Based in Hobart, Tasmania, the team was the only representative from the state of Tasmania for the majority of its ten ...
. He was named in the
All-NBL first team in his debut season. He was ranked fourth in scoring in his debut season averaging 32.7 per game, and came second in the category of assists (7 per game), and steals (3.4 per game). He was also named the runner-up for the
Most Valuable Player award
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
in 1986. He was then named in the 1987
All-NBL first team, and was ranked second in steals averaging 3.4 a game.
Sydney Kings
He joined the
Sydney Kings in 1988 after playing two seasons and 51 games at the
Hobart Devils
The Hobart Devils are a defunct professional basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). Based in Hobart, Tasmania, the team was the only representative from the state of Tasmania for the majority of its ten ...
. In 1988 and 1989 he was named in the
All-NBL second team, and continued to rank high in the steals and assists on an annual basis. During his NBL career, Carfino amassed 3,089 points at an average of 23.4 points, as well as having 750 assists, 501 rebounds and 378 steals. His highest score in his NBL career was 52 which he achieved twice, as well as scoring over 40 points five times more.
On October 10, 2013, Carfino was named in the Sydney Kings 25th Anniversary Team.
Homenetmen Antranig
He was appointed as Senior Men's coach for local Sydney domestic basketball club Homenetmen Antranig on April 13, 2016.
Fans were elated with the Carfino hiring, heard chanting "Yalla Stepan!" from the sidelines during his first session with the playing group.
On April 13, 2016, an hour after being appointed Carfino was inducted into the Antranig Basketball Hall of Fame.
NBL Hall of Fame
Steve Carfino was inducted into the
NBL Hall of Fame
The Australian Basketball Hall of Fame was instituted by the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1998 as the ''NBL Hall of Fame'' as part of their 20th season celebrations. The NBL initiated the Hall of Fame to recognise the outstanding players ...
as a player in 2004.
His selection caused some angst among some of the press (most notably
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
's leading basketball journalist Boti Nagy) who accused him and fellow
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
television commentator John Casey of shamelessly pushing for his inclusion in the HoF during their commentary of NBL games.
Television
After retiring from the NBL, Carfino joined
Network Ten and provided color commentary for broadcasts of
Sydney Kings home games. In 1996 Steve joined
Fox Sports
Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world.
The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...
to provide commentary of televised
NBL games alongside play-by-play commentator John Casey. He also hosted FOX SPORTS Central, The Afternoon Rush, Inside Basketball, and NBL Wrap. In 2005, he added both acting and voice-overs to his
résumé.
In 2010, the NBL moved from Fox Sports back to Network Ten, on its HD sports channel
One. Carfino was signed as a play-by-play commentator where he usually partners other former NBL players
Andrew Gaze
Andrew Barry Casson Gaze (born 24 July 1965) is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Melbourne Tigers from 1984 to 2005, winning the league's MVP a ...
and
Brett Maher as well as
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
based Lachy Reid.
[Chessell, James and Kogoy, Peter (March 27, 2010)]
"Basketball scores free-TV return with Ten"
''The Australian''.
February 2010 saw Carfino launch his new television show called MVP on One, though the show lasted only one season. MVP provided weekly highlights of American sports.
On 7 December 2014, Carfino resigned from Channel Ten, ending his 22 years as a commentator.
Other work
Steve is also active providing private basketball clinics for amateur teams looking to take that next step and achieve their full potential, ignites corporate events as MC or guest speaker with a focus on how to take winning teamwork strategies from pro-sports and applying them to pro-business, and is a consulting partner in a Sydney-based Sports Marketing agency focused on delivering marketing strategy, brand and production services to professional sports teams across all codes. Early in August 2014, Steve signed a deal with high school team St Patrick's College Strathfield as the head coach of the 1st V basketball team. He now is the head of Basketball at Barker College.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carfino, Steve
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in Australia
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Los Angeles
Basketball announcers
Boston Celtics draft picks
Hobart Devils players
Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players
Point guards
Shooting guards
Sydney Kings players