Basketball: Carril returns to the sidelines as Kings’ consultant

Carril spent 10 years as an assistant coach with the Kings between leaving Princeton in 1996 and retiring in 2006. Carril and former head coach Rick Adelman molded the Kings into an offensive powerhouse by incorporating elements of the Princeton Offense into their game plan. In 2002, the team paced the NBA with a 61-21 record and fell to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in a hotly contested seven-game Western Conference Finals.

Carril will focus on player development in new role with the Kings.

Carril’s return comes on the heels of a recent honor. On Dec. 22, the Department of Athletics announced its intention to name the game floor of Jadwin Gymnasium Carril Court. Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67 played for Carril in high school and became director in one of Carril’s final years as the Tigers’ head coach.

Carril, a basketball lifer, played collegiately at Lafayette under head coach Butch van Breda Kolff. Van Breda Kolff himself later became head coach of Princeton men’s basketball, leaving in 1967 and handing the reins to Carril.

The many highlights of Carril’s time with Princeton include a 1975 National Invitational Tournament Championship and the famed last-second 1996 win over No. 1 UCLA in the NCAA tournament. In his time with the Tigers, Princeton won 13 Ivy League championships.

Arguably Carril’s greatest accomplishment in five decades of coaching is the genesis of the Princeton Offense, the system that has become a trademark of Tiger basketball. Through his coaching disciples, including Georgetown head coach and former Princeton head coach John Thompson III ’88, the Princeton Offense has spread beyond the Orange Bubble and has been popularized throughout the basketball world.