How Did Pete Carril Die? Cause of death explained

Pete Carril, the legendary Princeton men’s basketball coach who created the revolutionary Princeton Offense, died Monday morning at Penn Hospital in Philadelphia. Carril was 92 years old when he died.

How Did Pete Carril Die?

Pete Carril, the Hall of Fame men’s basketball coach who created the “Princeton offense” that became synonymous with the sport and the University, died on Monday morning. He was 92 years old at the time.

“We kindly ask that you please respect our privacy at this time as we process our loss and make necessary arrangements,” the Carril family said in a statement released by Princeton.

Pete Carril Cause of death

the cause of death is still not specific.

Carril was 92 years old when he died.

Who was Pete Carril?

Peter Joseph Carril (July 10, 1930 – August 15, 2022)[1] was a basketball coach in the United States. He is best known for his 30 years as the head coach of Princeton University and his use of the “Princeton offense.”

He also worked as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings and at Lehigh University.

Early years of Pete Carril

Carril was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the son of Spanish immigrants to the United States from Riao, León, and Salamanca. He attended Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and was an all-state selection for Pennsylvania in 1947-48.

College life

He played collegiate basketball for Butch Van Breda Kolff at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.

He joined the Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity while at Lafayette.

The career of Pete Carril

Carril joined the United States Army after graduating from college in 1952; the Korean War was ending just as he was ordered to Korea, so Carril served as a public information officer after the war.

Coaching in high school

Carril began teaching ninth-grade Pennsylvania history and coaching junior varsity basketball at Easton Area High School in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1954.

Carril became varsity coach at Reading Senior High School in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1958, where Gary Walters, the former Princeton University athletic director and former Princeton point guard, played high school basketball under him. 

Coaching in college

Carril transferred to Princeton University after a year at Lehigh University. He had a 514-261 (.663 winning percentage) record in 29 years. He is also the only men’s coach in history to have won 500 games without the help of athletic scholarships. He won or shared 13 Ivy League titles and received 11 NCAA bids and two NIT bids. In 1975, the Tigers won the NIT championship.

Carril’s Tigers led the nation in scoring defense 14 of the 21 years from 1975 to 1996, including eight consecutive years from 1988 to 1996. Games against Princeton were typically low-scoring affairs; for example, the Tigers of 1990-91 and 1991-92 are the only teams to hold opponents to less than 50 points per game since the shot clock was made mandatory in 1985-86. Because of these factors, his Tigers were known as a very dangerous first-round opponent, despite only winning three NCAA Tournament games. Seven of their first-round losses were by less than ten points.

Princeton took first-ranked Georgetown to the wire in 1989, losing 50-49. If the Tigers had prevailed, they would have become the first #16 seed to defeat a #1 seed since the NCAA began seeding the tournament field in 1979. Carril’s final collegiate victory was a 43-41 upset of defending national champions UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 1996, which is considered one of the greatest upsets of all time.

How Did Pete Carril Die? Cause of death explained
How Did Pete Carril Die? Cause of death explained

Former Carril assistant and Princeton head coach from 2000 to 2004, John Thompson III, brought the Princeton offense with him to Georgetown and led the Hoyas to the 2007 Final Four.

Kings of Sacramento

Carril spent ten years as an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association before retiring in 2006. Carril assisted Rick Adelman in implementing the Princeton offense and oversaw the Kings’ development into one of the NBA’s best, most talented, and most potent offensive teams before the 1998-1999 season.

Also read

Carril demonstrated that the Princeton offense could function in the NBA with the help of stars such as Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovi, Doug Christie, and Mike Bibby (2001-2006). He volunteered as a coach for the Washington Wizards in 2007. For the 2009 season, he returned to the Kings as an assistant.

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