Pete Gillen

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Pete Gillen (June 20, 1947 – ) is an American basketball coach. The Brooklyn, New York native received his bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Fairfield University in 1968. Gillen was an English teacher in Brooklyn before becoming a collegiate head coach. He was a basketball coach at Xavier University from 1985 to 1994, Providence College from 1994 to 1998, and the University of Virginia from 1998 to 2005.

At Xavier, Gillen compiled an impressive record, taking the Musketeers to the NCAA tournament seven times and to the NIT tournament once (1994). Gillen is still the most successful coach in school history at Xavier, having won 202 games in the third-longest tenure ever for a XU coach. Following his success at Xavier, Gillen was hired at Providence to replace Rick Barnes, who had left to coach Clemson University. He followed PC's 1994 Big East title with two trips to the NIT before the Friar's 1997 run to the Elite Eight, upsetting Marquette and Duke and beating Chattanooga before losing in overtime to eventual national champion Arizona. Following a tough 1997-98 year, where he lost four starters (three to graduation, and one, God Shammgod, to the NBA draft), Gillen moved on, replacing Jeff Jones at Virginia, who resigned on March 15, 1998 after eight years as the Cavaliers’ head coach. Gillen's seven Virginia teams compiled an overall record of 118 - 93 and competed in five postseason tournaments. The Cavaliers participated in the 2001 NCAA Tournament and in the National Invitation Tournament four times.

Gillen is currently a college basketball commentator for the cable channel CSTV. He is famous for his thick Brooklyn accent, and his comment after Providence College's defeat of Duke in the 1997 NCAA second round in Charlotte: "Certainly Duke is Duke, they're on TV more than Leave it to Beaver reruns." The quote is often parodied and exaggerated by sports radio host Jim Rome.

Preceded by Bob Staak	Xavier Head Men's Basketball Coach 1985 – 1994	Succeeded by Skip Prosser
Preceded by Rick Barnes	Providence Head Men's Basketball Coach 1994 – 1998	Succeeded by Tim Welsh
Preceded by Jeff Jones	Virginia Head Men's Basketball Coach 1998 – 2005	Succeeded by Dave Leitao