| Pete Strickland | |
| Birth Date: | 25 May 1957 |
| Birth Place: | Newburgh, New York, U.S. |
| Player Years1: | 1975–1979 |
| Player Team1: | Pittsburgh |
| Coach Years1: | 1980–1982 |
| Coach Team1: | Neptune Basketball Club |
| Coach Years2: | 1983–1984 |
| Coach Team2: | Mt. St. Michael Academy (asst.) |
| Coach Years3: | 1984–1987 |
| Coach Team3: | DeMatha HS (asst.) |
| Coach Years4: | 1987–1988 |
| Coach Team4: | Ravenscroft HS |
| Coach Years5: | 1988–1991 |
| Coach Team5: | VMI (asst.) |
| Coach Years6: | 1991–1994 |
| Coach Team6: | Old Dominion (asst.) |
| Coach Years7: | 1994–1998 |
| Coach Team7: | Dayton (asst.) |
| Coach Years8: | 1998–2005 |
| Coach Team8: | Coastal Carolina |
| Coach Years9: | 2005–2011 |
| Coach Team9: | NC State (asst.) |
| Coach Years10: | 2011–2013 |
| Coach Team10: | George Washington (asst.) |
| Coach Years11: | 2016–2018 |
| Coach Years12: | 2021- |
| Coach Team12: | DeMatha HS (interim) |
| Awards: | Big South Coach of the Year (2000) |
Pete Strickland (born May 25, 1957) is an American basketball coach and former college basketball player, currently the interim head coach of DeMatha Catholic High School.
Strickland attended DeMatha Catholic High School near Washington, D.C., where he played high school basketball for Morgan Wootten. He then attended the University of Pittsburgh where he played for the Pittsburgh Panthers (1975–1979). With the Panthers, Strickland was a three-year starter and two-year captain.
In 1980, Strickland became player-coach of the Neptune Basketball Club based in Cork, Ireland.[1] Strickland had been recruited to play in Ireland by an international scout who saw him play in an alumni game in Pittsburgh.[1] In his first season as player-coach, Strickland's team went 18–0 and won the league title.[1] In 1981, in preparation for the "Neptune International Basketball Tournament" to be held in March in Cork, Strickland recruited a number of his American friends to form a “Maryland All-Stars" team for the tournament, in exchange for round-trip airline tickets to Ireland. The All-Star team was eliminated from the tournament by a Cork-based team on a last-second three-pointer.[1] That an Irish team was able to defeat an American team was credited with helping to increase the popularity of basketball in Ireland.[1]
Strickland coached at the high school level from 1983 through 1988. He then held assistant coaching roles at the college level from 1988 through 1998. In April 1998, he became head coach at Coastal Carolina University,[2] a role he held until March 2005.[3] His overall record in seven seasons with the Chanticleers was 70–127; the team was 42–56 in the Big South Conference.[3]
Strickland was next an assistant coach at North Carolina State University,[4] from 2005 until he was not retained by Mark Gottfried when Sidney Lowe resigned at the end of the Wolfpack's 2010–11 season. Strickland then served as an assistant coach at George Washington University,[5] from 2011 through 2013.
Strickland was named head coach of the Ireland national team in November 2016.[6] In the 2018 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries, Ireland finished in third place, with an overall record of 2–2 during the tournament.[7] [8]