LSU Gold

Tony Perotti Season 2023-24

LSU
Tony Perotti
Title
Assistant Coach

 

Fifth Season 

Tony Perotti enters his fifth season as an assistant coach at LSU after spending three years as an assistant coach on Nikki Fargas‘s staff at UCLA.

Perotti, who works with the Lady Tigers’ post players, has played a vital role in lifting the LSU program back to national prominence with three 20-win seasons and four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances highlighted by back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 trips.

Perotti was instrumental in the development of Theresa Plaisance and Shanece McKinney who went on to continue their careers professionally with the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock and New York Liberty. The duo also finished among the program’s top five in blocked shots. Plaisance was a two-time All-SEC First-Team selection and became LSU’s first SEC scoring champion during her junior season since Seimone Augustus in 2006. She is one of 18 players in program history to collect 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

During Perotti’s first season with the Lady Tigers in 2012-13, LSU reached its highest win total since 2008. The Lady Tigers captured 23 wins, reached the championship game of the Southeastern Conference Tournament and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament second round.

Perotti played a vital role in the growth and progression of LaSondra Barrett who came away with two All-SEC First-Team accolades and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention status in 2011 and 2012. She finished as the program’s 11th all-time leading scorer with 1,553 points, hauled in 813 rebounds to rank 10th in LSU history and shattered former All-American Sylvia Fowles career free throw record. Barrett went on to be chosen in the first round of the 2012 WNBA Draft.

Perotti was a member of the WBCA All-America committee completing the third year of his three-year term last season.

In summer 2012, Perotti and fellow assistant coach Tasha Butts received the prestigious honor of attending the Villa 7 Consortium, a program which brings together university athletics directors and the country’s elite assistant coaches in an effort to prepare the next generation of college basketball leaders. The two-day program was held on the Nike campus in Oregon.

Perotti helped guide UCLA to national prominence in his three seasons, which included two NCAA Tournament appearances and a 72-26 overall record. UCLA made drastic improvements in every season. In 2008-09, the Bruins compiled a 19-12 record and finished fourth in the Pac-10 Conference. The following year, Perotti and UCLA went 25-9 overall and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The 2010-11 season saw Perotti and the Bruins enjoy a banner year. UCLA spent most of the season ranked in the top 10 and they earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament after finishing with a 28-5 record and a second-place finish in the Pac-10. The Bruins set a record for regular-season victories (26), Pac-10 wins (16) and scoring defense (55.3 points per game).

Prior to UCLA, Perotti served as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona University for four seasons from 2004-08. He was the associate head coach his last two years at NAU. He served primarily as the team’s recruiting coordinator, game scouting coordinator and in the development of the perimeter players.

In his four seasons at NAU, Perotti helped the Lumberjacks compile 71 victories, win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and advance to the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament. During his tenure, the Lumberjacks set school records for field goals, points scored, assists, rebounds, three-point shots made and free throw percentage. Guard Sade Cunningham set a school record for single-season and career assists.

In 2006-07, NAU led the conference in field goal percentage, scoring defense and assists per game. In his first season as an assistant, Perotti not only helped the team to a 19-10 record and third-place conference finish, but took over as head coach for three games (2-1) at the end of the season when the head coach was home with a newborn baby.

Perotti officially joined the collegiate coaching ranks as an assistant for five seasons at the University of San Francisco. He was the team’s top assistant from 2000-04 and worked as the third assistant in his first season. He also served as the program’s recruiting coordinator in 2000 and 2002-03.

During that period, Perotti helped to successfully sign two Junior College All-Americans, three West Coast Conference Freshmen of the Year, as well as international players from Germany and Denmark. On the court, he worked primarily with the perimeter players and assisted in team offensive and defensive philosophy development and strategies. He also served as summer camp director and completed his master’s degree (2001) in sports and fitness management.

Before his time at USF, Perotti worked as an office assistant and summer camp coach at the University of Tennessee. He also served as a practice player for two seasons with the Lady Vols. While in Knoxville, Perotti gained coaching experience in 1999 as the co-head coach of the 11-and-under AAU team Knoxville Lady Lakers. At Tennessee, he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1999 in sports management with a minor in business administration.

Perotti grew up on a dairy farm in Millerton, N.Y., where his family still owns and operates the Lone Pine Farm. He learned the value of a hard day’s work from his father, John and grandfather, Frank and he grew up talking sports with his mother, Victoria and grandmother, Doris. Perotti has three siblings, brother Stephen and sisters Terry and Kelly, and three nieces, Krissy, Alexis and Cassidy.

The Tony Perotti File
Birthdate: September 13, 1976
Age: 39
Hometown: Millerton, N.Y.
Education
Undergraduate: Tennessee, 1999 (Sports Management)
Graduate: San Francisco, 2001 (Sports and Fitness Management) 
Twitter: @TonyPerotti

Coaching Experience
Year, Position, School
1999-2004, Assistant Coach, San Francisco
2004-06, Assistant Coach, Northern Arizona
2006-08, Associate Head Coach, Northern Arizona
2008-11, Assistant Coach, UCLA
2011-present, Assistant Coach, LSU