Vincent C. Cazzetta (September 24, 1925 – May 4, 2005) was 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 head coach of the

Pittsburgh Pipers Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylv ...

during the 1967–68 season, in which they won the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA) championship. He was also one of the most successful head coaches in

Seattle University Seattle University (SeattleU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington. Seattle University is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate prog ...

's men's basketball history Cazzetta was head coach at

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

from 1959 through 1963. He ranked second in school history with a .711 winning percentage and 96 wins. He resigned as coach with nine games left in the 1963 season after a dispute with the athletic director.InsideHoops.com - NCAA Hoops Roundup
/ref> Cazzetta moved on to become an assistant coach at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

.Welcome to Hoopville - Morning Dish Archive
/ref> Cazzetta became head coach of the fledgling

during the ABA's first season. He made major changes to the roster throughout the season; at the end of the season the team only had four players who had been there at the start of the season. During the season the Pipers had winning streaks of 15 and 12 games and won 18 out of 19 games at one point. The Pipers won the 1968 ABA Championship. Cazzetta was the ABA's Coach of the Year for the 1967–68 season. Cazzetta resigned as coach of the Pipers after team owners refused to grant him a raise in order to help move his wife and six children, as the franchise was leaving Pittsburgh to become the

Minnesota Pipers 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 i ...

. (The owners' refusal and move were both mistakes; the team returned to Pittsburgh as the Pipers after only one season in Minnesota.) Cazzetta was replaced as the Pipers' head coach by Jim Harding of

LaSalle College LaSalle College ( French: Collège LaSalle) was founded in 1959 by fashion designer Jean-Paul Morin. The college offers over 60 pre-university, technical and professional programs and is the largest bilingual college in North America. The coll ...

.Minnesota Pipers
/ref> Cazzetta died in 2005 in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

at the age of 79.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Basketball Reference.com page on Vince Cazzetta

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cazzetta, Vince 1925 births 2005 deaths American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Connecticut Pittsburgh Pipers coaches Rhode Island Rams men's basketball coaches Seattle Redhawks men's basketball coaches Sportspeople from New Britain, Connecticut University of Bridgeport alumni