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2003 TimesLedger PSAL Coach of the Year: Larry Carradine, Cardozo

The year was 1991, and after Reagan Stevens transferred in from powerhouse Humanities, Larry Carradine had just enjoyed his first winning season as the Cardozo girls’ basketball coach.

After teaching some basics of the sport to that point, Carradine decided it was time to learn more about coaching techniques. He sought the help of Bobby Hurley Sr., longtime coach at New Jersey powerhouse St. Anthony’s, and Rick Pitino.

Well, in print at least.

The Astoria native studied books on offensive and defensive fundamentals from the two coaching legends. The following year, Carradine’s Judges made the playoffs for the first time.

And after an 11-13 season in 1993, Cardozo has had nine straight winning seasons.

“I went to a lot of clinics and read a lot of books,” said Carradine, who played baseball, not basketball, at Monsignor McClancy. “I worked very hard to learn the game. I pretty much taught myself the game.”

Carradine has always prided himself on his preparation, so it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that the undersized underclassmen known as the 2002-03 Judges advanced to the PSAL Class A quarterfinals before falling to runner-up Curtis.

“Because of our size, we know we can’t lay back in a zone. In order for us to be effective, we have to use our ability to press and create turnovers,” Carradine said. “I stress a lot of conditioning, and we always talk about the mental aspect, that they’re really good players and they don’t have to fear anyone.”

After one year of coaching girls’ basketball at Van Buren, Carradine has been patrolling the sidelines at Cardozo for 20 years. The key to his longevity at the Bayside high school, Carradine said, is the school’s strong support staff.

“It’s a very good academic school, and there’s a lot of support from the administration and the custodial staff in terms of practicing on weekends and during vacations,” said Carradine, a physical education teacher at Queens School for Career Development in South Ozone Park. “They’re nice kids, usually bright, hard-working kids.”

At 50, Carradine is unsure how long he will continue to coach girls’ hoops at Cardozo. But players such as Lauren Cargill — who became the all-time leading scorer (men and women) in CUNY history this year — Val Katsorhis, Dona Nando and Vana Loukissas as well as current standouts Leah Lipschitz, Britni Bolden and Marissa Flagg, have provided him with ample memories.

Enough memories, maybe, to pen his own book.