Larry Cordaro, who begins his eighth season as an assistant coach for Southeastern, was recently named the head coach of the startup men's basketball program at LSU-Alexandria. He will assume those duties at the conclusion of the Lions' 2013-14 season.
During his tenure in Hammond, the Lions have had nine All-Southland Conference players, six All-Louisiana players, four National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District players and made six trips to the conference tournament.
Cordaro played a key role in the recruitment and development of Brandon Fortenberry and Roosevelt Johnson, both recently finishing their careers as two of the top players in school history.
The Ruston, La., native spent two seasons at league rival UT Arlington where he served on former Mavs’ coach Eddie McCarter’s staff. Cordaro became one of the youngest Division I coaches in the country when he was hired by McCarter in 2004-05. UTA reached the Southland Conference Tournament both seasons that Cordaro was in the Metroplex and placed two members - Steven Thomas and Jarrett Howell – on the 2005-06 All-SLC squad.
Before his stop at UTA, Cordaro was Director of Basketball Operations at LSU for two seasons where he assisted with on-campus recruiting, academic monitoring, coordinating pre-game meals and organizing meetings with the LSU men's basketball booster club. Cordaro also served as the co-director of John Brady's basketball camps and served as the video coordinator during the season.
Cordaro began as a student assistant for the Tigers in 2001 and in three years assisting, LSU reached the post-season every season with one NCAA Tournament appearance and two NIT berths.
Possessing a vast knowledge of summer camp operations, Cordaro has worked with some of college basketball's most knowledgeable coaches after working at The University of Miami (Fla.), Arizona, UAB, Birmingham-Southern, New Orleans, Texas, Middle Tennessee, LSU and Joe Dean, Jr.'s Dixie Basketball Camp.
Each summer Cordaro conducts his own basketball camp in his hometown of Ruston. Over the course of nine years he's taught more than 400 campers the finer points of the game as well as life lessons.
A 1998 graduate of Ruston High School, Cordaro was a member of the Xavier University men's basketball team before transferring to LSU where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting in 2002 and a master of science in sport management in 2004.
The campus coach for Southeastern's Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Cordaro volunteers his time weekly with Kids Hope USA as well as teaching Sunday School to 5th and 6th graders. He is a member of both the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
