Anthony Andrew Barone Sr. (July 20, 1946June 25, 2019) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach and scout. A native of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, he was head coach of the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). Barone was appointed as the team's interim coach by Grizzlies general manager

Jerry West Jerry Alan West (May 28, 1938 – June 12, 2024) was an American basketball player and executive. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

after West fired

Mike Fratello Michael Robert Fratello (born February 24, 1947), nicknamed "the Czar", is an American sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional basketball coach. He is currently a part-time Color commentator, analyst for FanDuel Sports Net ...

on December 28, 2006. Prior to landing his first head coaching job after Fratello's dismissal, Barone had served as an assistant coach for five seasons. Barone was also the Grizzlies' director of player personnel. Barone was an

Academic All-American An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

while playing at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

, where he graduated with a degree in English in 1971. He was previously the head coach at Creighton from 1985 to 1991. During his time at Creighton, Barone compiled a 102–82 record and led Creighton to two

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

appearances. Barone was pursued by major Division I programs and took the head coach position at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, where he led the team from 1991 to 1998. During his Texas A&M tenure, Barone compiled a record of 76–120 while having only one winning season. Barone was fired as head coach at Texas A&M following the 1997–98 season. He was a member of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. Barone died on June 25, 2019, at the age of 72. His son

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

played for his father at Texas A&M, transferring to Marquette after Tony's dismissal; Brian would later follow in Tony's footsteps as a Division I coach, currently at SIU Edwardsville.

Head coaching record

NBA

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College

References

External links

NBA.com coach profile

1946 births 2019 deaths American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Illinois Basketball players from Chicago College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Creighton Bluejays men's basketball coaches Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players Memphis Grizzlies assistant coaches Memphis Grizzlies head coaches Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball coaches 20th-century American sportsmen {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub