Adrian Buoncristiani (born c. 1940) is a former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach for six seasons at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, from 1972 to 1978.
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1940 (age 83–84) |
| Alma mater | Santa Clara, B.A. 1962 Cal Poly, M.Ed. |
| Playing career | |
| 1959–1962 | Santa Clara |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1970–1972 | UC Santa Barbara (assistant) |
| 1972–1978 | Gonzaga |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 78–82 |
Early years
editBuoncristiani grew up in San Francisco, California, and attended high school at St. Ignatius in the city where he graduated from in 1958.[1] An undersized guard at 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m), he played college basketball at Santa Clara under head coach Bob Feerick in the early 1960s, where he earned a degree in history.[2][3][4]
Buoncristiani started his coaching career at the high school level in California at Mission in San Luis Obispo for two years and then at Righetti in Santa Maria. He became a college assistant in 1970 at U.C. Santa Barbara, where he stayed for two seasons.[2]
Gonzaga
editHired in April 1972, Buoncristiani succeeded Hank Anderson, who left Gonzaga after 21 years as head coach for a similar position at Montana State in Bozeman, then a conference rival in the Big Sky Conference.[2][3] Less than a week after accepting the job, Buoncristiani was involved in a traffic accident in Spokane in which his car was demolished, but "ABC"[5] escaped with only minor injuries.[4][6]
In his six seasons at Gonzaga, Buoncristiani had an overall record of 78–82 (.488), and a conference record of 39–45 (.464), but never finished better than third in the Big Sky.[7]
Weeks after the conclusion of the 1978 season, Buoncristiani was encouraged to resign in April, days before letter of intent signing day.[8][9] He was succeeded by Dan Fitzgerald, a former GU assistant during ABC's first two years with the Bulldogs and a teammate from high school at St. Ignatius in San Francisco.
Fitzgerald immediately pushed for a change in conferences, first as head coach[10] and soon added title of athletic director.[11] Gonzaga left the Big Sky in June 1979 and joined the West Coast Athletic Conference, swapping places with Nevada.[12][13]
After coaching
editBuoncristiani moved to Kansas City in 1978 to work for Converse athletic shoes; he was the "Salesman of the Year" in his first year.[14] After three years, he relocated with Converse to Reno, Nevada,[15] and later lived in Spokane.[16]
Buoncristiani returned to Nevada and was an assistant coach at Galena High School in Reno. His son Lance was 1999 graduate of Galena and was a point guard at Idaho for his freshman season in 2000.[17][18]
Head coaching record
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gonzaga Bulldogs (Big Sky Conference) (1972–1978) | |||||||||
| 1972–73 | Gonzaga | 14–12 | 6–8 | 5th | |||||
| 1973–74 | Gonzaga | 13–13 | 7–7 | 4th | |||||
| 1974–75 | Gonzaga | 13–13 | 7–7 | T–3rd | |||||
| 1975–76 | Gonzaga | 13–13 | 5–9 | 7th | |||||
| 1976–77 | Gonzaga | 11–16 | 7–7 | 3rd | |||||
| 1977–78 | Gonzaga | 14–15 | 7–7 | 5th | |||||
| Gonzaga: | 78–82 (.488) | 39–45 (.464) | |||||||
| Total: | 78–82 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "THE JOHN E. BROPHY AWARD" (PDF).
- ^ a b c "Zags appoint Buoncristiani". Spokesman-Review. April 20, 1972. p. 23.
- ^ a b "GU tabs cage coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. April 19, 1972. p. 31.
- ^ a b "Start startling for Zag boss". Spokane Daily Chronicle. April 25, 1972. p. 18.
- ^ "ABC walks off court". Spokesman-Review. (photo). February 23, 1976. p. 16.
- ^ Missildine, Harry (April 26, 1972). "Buoncristiani arrives - pow!". Spokesman-Review. p. 18.
- ^ Gonzaga Basketball History - Page 51 of 62[permanent dead link]
- ^ Van Sickel, Charlie (April 7, 1978). "Gonzaga fires cage coach". Spokane Daily Chronicle. p. 29.
- ^ Van Sickel, Charlie (April 8, 1978). "Win battle, lose war". Spokane Daily Chronicle. p. 12.
- ^ Missildine, Harry (June 6, 1978). "Gonzaga scans switch to WCAC". Spokesman-Review. p. 19.
- ^ Yamaguchi, Andy (January 6, 1980). "Gonzaga to make WCAC debut tonight". Spokesman-Review. p. C5.
- ^ "Gonzaga drops from Big Sky". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. December 8, 1978. p. 4D.
- ^ "Nevada-Reno added to Big Sky". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. May 1979. p. 5B.
- ^ "Buoncristiani finds challenge". Spokesman-Review. July 10, 1979. p. 24.
- ^ Van Sickel, Charlie (January 8, 1982). "The Dutch Rug: Name-dropping". Spokane Daily Chronicle. p. 13.
- ^ "Buoncristiani, Moos among finalists for Montana AD job". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. December 19, 1989. p. C3.
- ^ Meehan, Jim (February 9, 1999). "Ex-GU coach's son a big catch for Idaho". Spokesman-Review. p. C6.
- ^ Meehan, Jim (April 8, 2000). "Four players leaving UI basketball teams". Spokesman-Review. p. C6.
External links
edit- Sports Reference – coaching record – Adrian Buoncristiani
- Gonzaga University Digital Collections – Adrian Buoncristiani