Seton Hall Magazine, Summer 2001 - TLTC Blogs - Seton Hall ...

Seton Hall University’s newly
appointed men’s basketball
coach, Louis Orr, knows he
has some big shoes to fill.
Former Pirate coaches —
including Richie Regan ’53, Frank
Hill, John “Honey” Russell, Bill
Raftery, P.J. Carlesimo and most
recently Tommy Amaker — have
reached nearly legendary status not
only for their coaching skills but also
for their ability to teach their players
valuable lessons about life.
It is a tradition that Orr, who
took over the reins on April 4, deeply
values and wants to continue. “It’s my
job and my responsibility and my calling
to try to make a difference in
these players’ lives and help them be
successful no matter what they do,”
Orr emphasized at the press conference
announcing his appointment.
A six-foot-nine former NBA
forward, Orr is the University’s 17th
men’s basketball coach and the first
former BIG EAST Conference player
to become a head coach at a conference
institution. The 42-year-old
comes to Seton Hall from Siena
College in Loudonville, New York,
where this past season he guided the
Saints to a 20-11 record and a 12-6
mark in the Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference (MAAC).
An Orangeman at Home
in South Orange
The Cincinnati native was a standout
player at BIG EAST-rival Syracuse
University from 1976 to 1980. In his
four years at Syracuse, Orr helped
lead the Orangemen to four NCAA
Tournament appearances, advancing
to the “Sweet 16” twice. In his senior
year, he earned All-BIG EAST and
All-America honors, finishing his
22 SETON HALL UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
“It’s my job and
my responsibility
and my calling
to try to make
a difference
in their lives
and help these
players be
successful
no matter what
they do.”
collegiate career as Syracuse’s top
rebounder with 881, a record that still
stands today.
After graduation, Orr moved to
the next level in his basketball career
when the Indiana Pacers selected
him in the second round of the 1980
NBA Draft; he was the 28th draft pick
overall. After playing with the
Pacers as a forward for two seasons,
he moved on to the New York
Knicks. Following six seasons there,
in 1990 Orr opted for a place on the
bench as a college coach, and he has
been coaching ever since.
Orr believes the knowledge he
gained during his eight seasons in the
NBA and 10 years coaching collegiate
ball will help him lead Seton Hall to
success. However, he is keenly aware
of the challenges he will face along the
way. “Being a head coach extends far
beyond planning the Xs and Os,” Orr
explains. “You consistently need to be
on top of things — you get pulled in a
lot of different directions.”
Orr should know. The first two
years of his coaching career (1990-92)
were as a volunteer assistant at
Cincinnati’s Xavier University under
The Tradition
Coach Louis Orr sets his sights