John Kresse

This article is about the college coach. For the fictional character, see John Kreese.

John Leopold Kresse V

Biographical details
Born	(1943-04-17) April 17, 1943 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Playing career
1962–1964	St. John's
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1965–1970	St. John's (asst.)
1970–1973	New York Nets (asst.)
1973–1979	St. John's (asst.)
1979–2002	College of Charleston
Head coaching record
Overall	560–143 (.797)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
6 NAIA District 6 Champion (1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989) NAIA National Champion (1983) 2 TAAC Tournament Champion (1997, 1998) 5 TAAC Regular Season Champion (1994–1998) 2 TAAC Division Champion (1997, 1998) SoCon Tournament Championship (1999) 4 SoCon Regular Season Champion (1999–2002) 4 SoCon Division Champion (1999–2002)
Awards
3× TAAC Coach of the Year (1994, 1997, 1998) SoCon Coach of the Year (1999) 5× NAIA District 6 Coach of the Year (1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989) NAIA Area 7 Coach of the Year (1982) 6× South Carolina State Coach of the Year (1983, 1987, 1988, 1994, 1996, 1999)
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2018

John Leopold Kresse V (born April 17, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American basketball coach and writer.

Career and Personal Life

He is former head coach of the College of Charleston Cougars and assistant coach with the New York Nets and St. John's University. Kresse has the 5th highest winning percentage (.797) of any Division 1 NCAA college basketball coach with 560 wins and 143 losses during his 23 years as head coach of the College of Charleston. Kresse retired from coaching duties in 2002. In 2005, Kresse was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame. The John Kresse Arena is named after him. Prior to the 2008–2009 basketball season, the College of Charleston moved to the Carolina First Arena where the playing surface is named John Kresse Court in honor of the coach. In 2009, Kresse was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

Kresse coached the College of Charleston to the 1983 NAIA basketball title. One of the teams the Cougars defeated in the 1983 NAIA tournament was Chaminade, which had earlier in the season defeated a great Virginia team led by Ralph Sampson. In 1990, the College of Charleston moved from NAIA to NCAA Division I, and soon became known as a giant killer. Over the next few years, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Stanford, and other major power programs would fall to the Cougars.

John Leopold Kresse V is married to Dr. Sue Sommer-Kresse who also worked at the College of Charleston, and they have two sons, John Leopold Kresse VI and Ryan Henry Kresse.

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
College of Charleston Cougars (NAIA) (1979–1989)
1979–80	College of Charleston	17–11	17–11	District 6 Quarterfinal
1980–81	College of Charleston	25–5	25–5	District 6 Semifinal
1981–82	College of Charleston	25–5	25–5	District 6 Runner up
1982–83	College of Charleston	33–5	33–5	District 6 Champions	NAIA National Champions
1983–84	College of Charleston	25–7	25–7	District 6 Runner Up
1984–85	College of Charleston	30–4	30–4	District 6 Champions	NAIA Quarterfinal
1985–86	College of Charleston	26–9	26–9	District 6 Champions	NAIA Quarterfinal
1986–87	College of Charleston	31–2	31–2	District 6 Champions	NAIA 2nd Round
1987–88	College of Charleston	30–5	30–5	District 6 Champions	NAIA 2nd Runner Up
1988–89	College of Charleston	26–6	26–6	District 6 Champions	NAIA 2nd Round
College of Charleston:		268–59 (.820)	268–59 (.820)
College of Charleston Cougars (Independent) (1989–1991)
1989–90	College of Charleston	19–8	0–0	–	NCAA D1 Compliance
1990–91	College of Charleston	15–12	0–0	–	NCAA D1 Compliance
College of Charleston:		34–20 (.630)
College of Charleston Cougars (Independent) (1991–1993)
1991–92	College of Charleston	19–8		–	Joined Division 1
1992–93	College of Charleston	19–8		–
College of Charleston:		38–16 (.704)
College of Charleston Cougars (TAAC) (1993–1998)
1993–94	College of Charleston	24–4	14–2	1st	NCAA 1st Round
1994–95	College of Charleston	23–6	15–1	1st	NIT First Round
1995–96	College of Charleston	25–4	15–1	1st	NIT Second Round
1996–97	College of Charleston	29–3	16–0	1st (East)	NCAA 2nd Round
1997–98	College of Charleston	24–6	14–2	1st (East)	NCAA 1st Round
College of Charleston:		125–23 (.845)	74–6 (.925)
College of Charleston Cougars (Southern) (1998–2002)
1998–99	College of Charleston	28–3	16–0	1st (South)	NCAA 1st Round
1999–2000	College of Charleston	24–6	13–3	1st (South)
2000–01	College of Charleston	22–7	12–4	1st (South)
2001–02	College of Charleston	21–9	9–7	T–1st (South)
College of Charleston:		95–25 (.792)	50–14 (.781)
Total:		560–143 (.797)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Selected bibliography

• The Complete Book of Man-To-Man Offense (with Richard Jablonski) ISBN 1-58518-873-5
• Attacking Zone Defenses (with Richard Jablonski) ISBN 1-58518-158-7