Costello, "Larry" (Lawrence R.)
Basketball
b. July 2, 1931, Minoa, NY
As a guard at Niagara University, Costello averaged 15.0 points a game in three seasons as a starter. The 6-foot-1, 188-pounder joined the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors in 1954. After spending part of his first season and all of the 1955-56 season in the military service, Costello returned to the Warriors for the 1956-57 season.
He was sold to the Syracuse Nationals in October of 1957. After the Warriors moved to California, the Syracuse franchise went to Philadelphia and became known as the 76ers in 1963. Costello retired after the 1967/68 season.
He became head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in 1968, guiding them to first-place finishes in their division from 1970-71 through 1973-74 and in 1975-76. Costello was replaced after the team won only 3 of its first 18 games in 1976-77, and he took over the Chicago Bulls in 1978 but didn't finish the season.
In 1980, Costello went to Utica College, which was making the transition from NCAA Division III to Division I basketball. He had only one winning season there, and retired in 1987.
As a player, Costello scored 8,622 points in 706 regular season games, a 12.2 average, and had 3,215 assists. He added 592 points in 52 playoff games for an 11.4 average.
His professional coaching record was 430-300, a .589 winning percentage, in the regular season and 37-23 in the playoffs. Costello was 77-106 at Utica.