Persistent Winner

Coaching isn’t a job for Larry Cordaro. It’s a passion.

After spending nine years as the first coach in LSU-Alexandria men’s basketball history, with stops across Louisiana along the way, the former Ruston Bearcat will get his chance to continue to pour into his love of the game at the Division I level after becoming Director of Basketball Operations at Troy University.

For Cordaro, the move from LSUA to Troy is more than just new scenery, it’s another opportunity to reflect on those who helped him get this far and showed belief in him, even when he didn’t fully know it himself.

“After nine years in Alexandria, I just felt like change was needed to ultimately reach some of my career goals,” Cordaro said. “It was a great nine years in Alexandria, but I felt it was time to spread my wings – do something outside the box and meet some new coaches and work with them.”

Cordaro’s track record is full of winning, turning LSUA into a power in the NAIA ranks with an overall record of 224-50 and 107-10 all-time at home, along with eight NAIA Tournament appearances and a national championship berth in 2018.

Before LSUA, Cordaro worked at Southeastern Louisiana for eight seasons as an assistant coach, two seasons at UT Arlington, and began his time as a graduate assistant at LSU.

Troy, competing in the Sun Belt Conference, is led by head coach Scott Cross, who previously worked with Cordaro at UTA.

Like others who’ve worked alongside Cordaro, work ethic stands out across his winning resume.

“Coach Cordaro is one of the hardest working coaches in the country,” Cross said while announcing the hire. “We are very excited to hire someone as talented, experienced and successful as him. Coach Cordaro will keep our office organized and on task, but he will also make our players and team better with his basketball experience and knowledge.”

A native of Ruston, where he earned his diploma from Ruston High School in 1998, Cordaro believes his Lincoln Parish roots set him up perfectly for his new role and instilled a love of basketball that has stuck with him.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for my time in Ruston and the people I met in Lincoln Parish,” Cordaro said. “Coach (Jack) Thigpen instilled a love of the game in me when I didn’t even know I was going to be a coach at the time. I have to thank the great Michael Lyons and Antonio Hudson for welcoming me in with open arms. I can’t forget about Aaron James and Jamie Eagles. A lot of great ties in Ruston.”

Cordaro’s first brush with a love for coaching came after an internship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, his junior year of college, quickly realizing that summer that his path would be in coaching.

Thigpen worked with Cordaro and got his former player a coaching job at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, setting him on the path towards decades on the sideline.

But Cordaro had a specific interest in college coaching, so coaching at Catholic never panned out.

As Cordaro made his way to Baton Rouge, Thigpen knew his former player was going to have a special career ahead of him and was not the least bit surprised by hearing the news of his hire at Troy.

“Well, I’m certainly proud of Larry and what he’s accomplished and he certainly proved himself at LSUA,” Thigpen said. “I feel like he’s deserving of a head coaching job at the Division I level but he hasn’t quite been able to break though in that just yet. I mean, to take a program that didn’t exist to what they did is amazing.”

Soon after Catholic-B.R., Antonio Hudson got to know Cordaro as an undergrad at LSU while the two were in Baton Rouge.

Hudson, a member of the LSU men’s basketball team, spent time with Cordaro on the intramural courts, winning tournaments and sharing their personal goals as they grew into adulthood. Realizing Cordaro’s interest in coaching went beyond lip service, Hudson introduced his new friend to then-LSU associate head coach Butch Pierre.

From there, the rest is history. Cordaro joined the team, traveling with the Tigers and learning from SEC coaches on what makes teams successful for a season. From there, he spent two additional seasons as a graduate assistant with LSU as a 23-year-old.

“He was persistent and would always work his tail off,” Hudson recalled. “He’d always say coaching was something he wanted to do. It was never about the money or anything like that. He just wanted to do it, and I knew he had been around the game quite a bit, so I thought he’d make a pretty darn good coach.”

Hudson, now the head coach of the Lincoln Prep boys basketball team, said Cordaro has called and checked in on the Panthers’ season since the two have gone on separate coaching tracks and makes it a point to meet up with Hudson whenever he drives through Ruston or Grambling.

Now that Cordaro has made his way back to the DI ranks, Hudson believes there’s no one more deserving of a shot than his longtime friend.

“If anybody is deserving of an opportunity it’s Larry,” Hudson said. “I feel as if there were a couple places that missed out on a good hire locally. If there’s anyone that’s in the state that proved themselves as a winner, it’s Larry. That’s above my pay grade, but how a person like that leaves the state, I just don’t know. Troy got a special person.”

Thigpen knows firsthand the challenge of sticking in the coaching business for decades at a time, especially as the sport evolves.

So why has Cordaro been able to make it at every level he’s coached? Thigpen believes it comes down to being a people-person and having a true love of learning and improving – even helping out your former coach in-game.

“I could tell when he was playing that he was intelligent and had a good understanding of the game,” Thigpen said. “On occasion, he would offer suggestions during the game and stuff like that. His work ethic was and is bar none.

“He’s 24/7 basketball; Always working and learning and going to clinics and talking to people and keeping up with the game as it changes,” Thigpen continued. “It’s what he loves to do, no doubt.”