Lou Rossini

Lou Rossini

Biographical details
Born	(1921-04-24)April 24, 1921 Bronx, New York, U.S.
Died	October 21, 2005(2005-10-21) (aged 84) Sewell, New Jersey, U.S.
Playing career
1940–1942	St. John's
1945–1947	Columbia
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1950–1958	Columbia
1958–1971	NYU
1975–1979	St. Francis (NY)
Head coaching record
Overall	357–256
Tournaments	6–5 (NCAA University Division) 7–3 (NIT)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
EIBL (1951) Metropolitan New York (1960)

Lucio "Lou" Rossini (April 24, 1921 – October 21, 2005) was an American college basketball coach. He compiled a 357–256 record in almost 20 years of coaching, most notably with New York University (NYU).

In Rossini's first year as head coach with Columbia University, he guided them to a 21–1 record and an appearance in the 1951 NCAA basketball tournament. After Columbia, Rossini coached at NYU, leading them to three NCAA tournament appearances and four National Invitation Tournament (NIT) bids in 13 seasons. Rossini last coached in the NCAA for St. Francis College in Brooklyn, from 1975 to 1979, and had a 55–48 record. He also coached the Puerto Rican national team in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics and the Qatar national team in the 1980s. In 1959 he led the Capitanes de Arecibo a team in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (Puerto Rico basketball league) to their first championship.

Two of his best players at NYU were Happy Hairston and Barry Kramer, who starred on the 1963 and 1964 teams. Hairston and Kramer advanced to professional careers. He also coached Puerto Rico's national team at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.

Rossini died at his home in the Sewell section of Mantua Township, New Jersey, aged 84. The cause of death was Alzheimer's disease.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Columbia Lions (Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League) (1950–1954)
1950–51	Columbia	21–1	12–0	1st	NCAA first round
1951–52	Columbia	12–10	7–5	4th
1952–53	Columbia	17–10	8–4	2nd
1953–54	Columbia	11–13	6–8	5th
Columbia Lions (Ivy League) (1954–1958)
1954–55	Columbia	17–8	10–4	T–2nd
1955–56	Columbia	15–9	9–5	T–2nd
1956–57	Columbia	18–6	9–5	T–3rd
1957–58	Columbia	6–18	2–12	8th
Columbia:		117–71	63–43
NYU Violets (Metropolitan New York Conference) (1958–1963)
1958–59	NYU	15–8	2–2	T–4th
1959–60	NYU	22–5	4–0	1st	NCAA University Division Final Four
1960–61	NYU	12–11	2–1	T–2nd
1961–62	NYU	20–5	3–2	3rd	NCAA University Division Regional Third Place
1962–63	NYU	18–5	3–1	2nd	NCAA University Division Regional Fourth Place
NYU Violets (Independent) (1963–1965)
1963–64	NYU	17–10			NIT semifinal
1964–65	NYU	16–10			NIT semifinal
NYU Violets (Metropolitan Collegiate Conference) (1965–1967)
1965–66	NYU	18–10	7–2	T–2nd	NIT Runner-up
1966–67	NYU	10–6	6–3	4th
NYU Violets (Independent) (1967–1971)
1967–68	NYU	8–16
1968–69	NYU	12–9
1969–70	NYU	12–12
1970–71	NYU	5–20
NYU:		185–127	27–11
St. Francis Terriers (NCAA Division I independent) (1975–1979)
1975–76	St. Francis	13–13
1976–77	St. Francis	12–14
1977–78	St. Francis	16–9
1978–79	St. Francis	14–12
St. Francis:		55–48
Total:		357–256
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

See also

• List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach