Over 28 seasons, Tucson native Jerry Carrillo has amassed 629 wins at the helm of the Cochise College men's basketball program. On May 19, the Salpointe Catholic and UA grad was inducted into the NJCAA Men's Basketball Coaches Association Hall…
Sean Lynch Cronkite News UGLAS — Oscar Cluff had no idea what to expect when he arrived at Cochise College for the first time in August 2021.
People are also reading… But yet, despite all its emptiness, the gold standard of junior college basketball in Arizona resides off this road. The same road was traveled by hundreds of former players who moved on to play at four-year programs. Carrillo’s careerCarrillo grew up across the street from Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson, before earning All-City honors as a player for the Lancers in 1982. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education before getting his master’s degree in kinesiology at California State Northridge.
By 1992, Carrillo returned to Arizona as the boys basketball coach at Buena High School. When the Cochise College men’s basketball head coaching position opened in 1995, he was among a talented pool of candidates for the job. Shortly before school began, longtime athletic director Bo Hall offered him the position.
The start of something specialThe first few years of his coaching career saw familiar faces. Three of the sophomores on the 1995-96 team were young men Carrillo had coached at Sierra Vista High School just a few years prior. As the wins came to Cochise, so did players from around the world. Carrillo recruited his way into Texas, securing the commitments of several El Paso High School Player of the Year winners over time.
He was named an assistant coach for the Apaches on three separate occasions — first, in 2016, the second time in 2020 and the third time on June 14. He left the program because his wife was on active duty. She was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska, causing Lane to leave the program for the first time. Lane is more than just a typical assistant coach; he’s an example of someone who ate in the same cafeteria and slept in the same dorms. Carrillo is grateful for him to be back to continue building the culture that has been established.
In your face and pushing the paceCarrillo adopted his offensive philosophy from former NBA and NCAA coach Paul Westhead. Push the pace to get a shot before the defense gets set and press before the opponent’s offense can get started. The Apache style of play isn’t just a philosophy that helps win games. It’s a style of play that helps players get recruited to play at the highest collegiate level at a four-year university.
In addition to volunteering at the Bisbee 1000 Stair Climb, the program goes to local schools to read to kids several times throughout the year and hosts basketball clinics.
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