| Guard | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | August 28, 1962 Los Angeles, California |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 198 lb (90 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | Iowa |
| NBA Draft | 1984 / Round: 6 / Pick: 23rd overall |
| Selected by the Boston Celtics | |
| Pro career | did not play–present |
| League | NBL |
| Career history | |
| Hobart Devils (1986-1988) Sydney Kings (1988-1991) |
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
| NBL's First Team (1986, 1987) NBL Hall of Fame Member |
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Steve Carfino (born August 12, 1962 in Los Angeles, California) is a former basketball player, who played for the University of Iowa in college basketball and later in the Australian National Basketball League. After retiring he became a television commentator, focusing on basketball, occasionally covering other sports. He is the younger brother of former University of Southern California basketballer Don Carfino.[1]
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Carfino attended St John Bosco High School in California. He was a High School All-America selection.[2]
Steve attended the University of Iowa. In his final year at the University, Steve was named in the All Big Ten, and was also named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Hawkeyes for that season.[3][4]
After this, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the NBA in the last selection of the 6th round.[5] He was cut by the Celtics in August 1984.[6]
After leaving the Celtics Carfino stepped away from basketball, operating a sports store in Cedar Rapids, Iowa between September 1984 and July 1985.[6] Steve is currently coaching school basketball teams with great success. His current team is winning all their games with their star players being Lola Champtaloup and Holly Wadsworth.
Steve played five seasons in the NBL between 1986 and 1991.
Steve was invited to play pro ball in Australia. He took the opportunity to follow in the foot-steps of other great 'import' players that had made a big impact on the game down-under, and elevated the league to new levels through the 70s and 80s. His Australian career (and life) started when he moved to Hobart and played with the Hobart Devils. He was named in the All-NBL first team in his debut season. He was ranked fourth in scoring in his debut season averaging 32.7 per game, and came second in the category of assists (7 per game), and steals (3.4 per games). He was also named the runner-up for the Most Valuable Player award in 1986. He was then named in the 1987 All-NBL first team, and was ranked second in steals averaging 3.4 a game.
He joined the Sydney Kings in 1988 after playing two seasons and 51 games at the Hobart Devils. In 1988 and 1989 he was named in the All-NBL second team, and continued to poll high in the steals and assists on an annual basis. During his NBL career, Steve amassed 3,089 points at an average of 23.4 points, as well as having 750 assists, 501 rebounds and 378 steals. His highest score in his NBL career was 52 which he achieved twice, as well as scoring over 40 points five times more. He was inducted into the NBL Hall of Fame in 2004.[7]
After retiring from the NBL, Steve joined Network Ten and provided action commentary for broadcasts of Sydney Kings home games. Steve proved a great success. So much so that in 1996 Steve joined Fox Sports Australia, Australia's premier cable sports broadcaster, providing insightful commentary of all National Basketball League (Australasia) games alongside play-by-play commentator John Casey. He also hosted FOX SPORTS Central, The Afternoon Rush, Inside Basketball, and NBL Wrap. In 2005, Steve added both acting and voice-overs to his commentary success. Then in 2009, Steve commenced the play-by-play calls with longtime friend Andrew Gaze joining him in the commentary box.[8]
February 2010 saw Steve launch his new television show called MVP on One. MVP provides weekly highlights of American sports.
Steve is also active providing private basketball clinics for amateur teams looking to take that next step and achieve their full potential, ignites corporate events as MC or guest speaker with a focus on how to take winning teamwork strategies from pro-sports and applying them to pro-business, and is a consulting partner in a Sydney-based Sports Marketing agency focused on delivering marketing strategy, brand and production services to professional sport's teams across all codes.