Career

He is former head coach of the College of Charleston Cougars and assistant coach with the New York Nets and Saint John"s University. Kresse has the 5th highest winning percentage (797) of any Division 1 National Collegiate Athletic Association college basketball coach with 560 wins and 143 losses during his 23 years as head coach of the College of Charleston. Kresse retired from coaching duties in 2002.

In 2005, Kresse was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.

The John Kresse Arena is named after him. Prior to the 2008-2009 basketball season, the College of Charleston moved to the Carolina First Arena where the playing surface is named John Kresse Court in honor of the legendary coach.

In 2009, Kresse was inducted into the New York City basketball Hall of Fame. Kresse coached the College of Charleston to the 1983 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics basketball title.

One of the teams the Cougars defeated in the 1983 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament was Chaminade, which had earlier in the season defeated a great Virginia team led by Ralph Sampson.

In 1990, the College of Charleston moved from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I, and soon became known as a giant killer. Over the next few years, North Carolina, Georgia Technical, Maryland, Stanford, and other big time programs would fall to the well coached Cougars.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Complete Book of Man-to-Man Offense (Third Edition)

    (Thoroughly illustrated with more than 300 diagrams, John ...)

  • Attacking Zone Defenses (Third Edition)

    (This excellent resource from John Kresse and Richard Jabl...)

  • The Complete Book of Man-To-Man Offense

    (Coaches Kresse and Jablonski return with an updated and r...)

  • Attacking Zone Defenses (Art & Science of Coaching)

    (Step-by-step instructions for developing an offensive sch...)