Pete Gillen

College coach infobox


Name = Pete Gillen
| Caption =
DateOfBirth = birth date and age|1947|6|20
Birthplace = Brooklyn, New York
DateOfDeath =
Sport = Basketball
College =
Title = College Basketball Analyst
CBS College Sports Network
OverallRecord = 392-221 (.639)
Awards = 1994 FIBA World Championship Gold Medal
Xavier University Sports Hall of Fame
Greater Cincinnati Basketball Hall of Fame
5-Star Basketball Hall of Fame
Jim Valvano Nike Basketball Hall of Fame
New York City Basketball Hall of Fame
Championships =
CFbDWID =
Player = *
Years = 1964-1968
Team = Fairfield
Position = Guard
Coach = Head Coach
CoachYears = ???
???
???
1980-1985
1985-1994
1994-1998
1998-2005
CoachTeams = Hawaii (asst.)
VMI (asst.)
Villanova (asst.)
Notre Dame (asst.)
Xavier Musketeers
Providence
Virginia Cavaliers

Pete Gillen (born in Brooklyn, New York on June 20, 1947) is a former American basketball head coach of the NCAA Division I Xavier Musketeers, Providence Friars and Virginia Cavaliers and is a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3597379&name=katz_andy Plenty of star power at NYC HOF ceremony] ] Coach Gillen is currently a College Basketball Analyst with the CBS College Sports Network.

Coaching career

Coach Gillen began his coaching career at his high school alma mater Brooklyn Prep where he was an English teacher. He soon moved to the collegiate level when he joined the coaching staff of Rick Pitino as an assistant at the University of Hawaii. Gillen followed that with subsequent assistant coaching stints at the Virginia Military Institute; Villanova University under Rollie Massimino, and the University of Notre Dame under Digger Phelps from 1980 to 1985.

He was head basketball coach at Xavier University from 1985 to 1994, Providence College from 1994 to 1998, and the University of Virginia from 1998 to 2005.

At Xavier, Gillen compiled an impressive record, taking the Musketeers to the NCAA tournament seven times and to the NIT tournament once (1994). Gillen is still the most successful coach in school history at Xavier, having won 202 games in the third-longest tenure ever for a XU coach.

Following his success at Xavier, Gillen was hired at Providence to replace Rick Barnes, who had left to coach Clemson University. He followed PC's 1994 Big East title with two trips to the NIT before the Friar's 1997 run to the Elite Eight, upsetting Marquette and Duke and beating Chattanooga before losing in overtime to eventual national champion Arizona.

Following a tough 1997-98 year, where he lost four starters (three to graduation, and one, God Shammgod, to the NBA draft), Gillen moved on, replacing Jeff Jones at Virginia, who resigned on March 15, 1998 after eight years as the Cavaliers’ head coach. Gillen's seven Virginia teams compiled an overall record of 118 - 93 and competed in five postseason tournaments. The Cavaliers participated in the 2001 NCAA Tournament and in the National Invitation Tournament four times. He resigned after the 2004-05 season.

USA Basketball

Coach Gillen was an assistant coach under Don Nelson for the US national team during the 1994 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal. [ [http://www.usabasketball.com/history/mwc_1994.html 1994 USA Basketball] ]

College basketball analyst

Coach Gillen is currently a College Basketball Analyst with the CBS College Sports Network.He is famous for his thick Brooklyn accent, and his comment after Providence College's defeat of Duke in the 1997 NCAA second round in Charlotte: "Certainly Duke is Duke, they're on TV more than "Leave it to Beaver" reruns." The quote is often parodied and exaggerated by sports radio host Jim Rome.

Playing career

Gillen was two sport athlete in baseball and basketball at Fairfield University where he received his bachelor’s degree in English Literature in 1968.

References