Adrian Buoncristiani (born c. 1940) is a former

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach. He served as the head coach for six seasons at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, from 1972 to 1978.

Early years

Buoncristiani grew up in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and attended high school at St. Ignatius in the city where he graduated from in 1958. An undersized

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

at , he played college basketball at Santa Clara under head coach

Bob Feerick Robert Joseph Feerick (January 2, 1920 – June 8, 1976) was an American professional basketball player, coach and general manager. He was born in San Francisco, California at the old French Hospital, attended Star of the Sea Catholic school and ...

in the early 1960s, where he earned a degree in history. Buoncristiani started his coaching career at the high school level in California at

Mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

for two years and then at Righetti in Santa Maria. He became a college assistant in 1970 at U.C. Santa Barbara, where he stayed for two seasons.

Gonzaga

Hired in April 1972, Buoncristiani succeeded

Hank Anderson Thor Henry Anderson (December 5, 1920 – September 5, 2005) was a college basketball coach and athletic director (AD). He was the head coach at Gonzaga University for 21 seasons, from 1951 to 1972, where he compiled a record. Anderson later coa ...

, who left Gonzaga after 21 years as head coach for a similar position at

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

Bozeman Bozeman ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States. The 2020 United States census put Bozeman's population at 53,293, making it Montana's fourth-largest city. It is the principal city of the Bozeman, Montan ...

, then a conference rival in the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

. Less than a week after accepting the job, Buoncristiani was involved in a traffic accident in Spokane in which his car was demolished, but "ABC" escaped with only minor injuries. In his six seasons at Gonzaga, Buoncristiani had an overall record of 78–82 (), and a conference record of 39–45 (), but never finished better than third in the Big Sky.Gonzaga Basketball History - Page 51 of 62
/ref> Weeks after the conclusion of the 1978 season, Buoncristiani was encouraged to resign in April, days before

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term she ...

signing day. He was succeeded by

Dan Fitzgerald Daniel John Fitzgerald (March 3, 1942 – January 19, 2010) was an American college basketball coach and athletic director at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Fitzgerald was the head coach at Gonzaga for 15 seasons between 1978 and 19 ...

, a former GU assistant during ABC's first two years with the Bulldogs and a teammate from high school at St. Ignatius in San Francisco. Fitzgerald immediately pushed for a change in conferences, first as head coach and soon added title of athletic director. Gonzaga left the Big Sky in June 1979 and joined the

West Coast Athletic Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCA ...

, swapping places with

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

After coaching

Buoncristiani moved to

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

in 1978 to work for Converse athletic shoes; he was the "Salesman of the Year" in his first year. After three years, he relocated with Converse to

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, and later lived in Spokane. Buoncristiani returned to Nevada and was an assistant coach at Galena High School in Reno. His son Lance was 1999 graduate of Galena and was a point guard at

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

for his freshman season in 2000.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Sports Reference
– coaching record – Adrian Buoncristiani
Gonzaga University Digital Collections
– Adrian Buoncristiani {{DEFAULTSORT:Buoncristiani, Adrian 1940 births Living people American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from San Francisco California Polytechnic State University alumni College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball coaches Guards (basketball) Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball coaches St. Ignatius College Preparatory alumni 20th-century American sportsmen