McCarty Joins U of L Men's Basketball Staff
June 29, 2007 | Men's Basketball
June 29, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- - Walter McCarty, a 10-year NBA veteran who played for University of Louisville head coach Rick Pitino in college and professionally, has joined the Cardinals' staff as an assistant coach. McCarty was drafted in the first round of the 1996 draft (19th overall pick) by the New York Knicks, where he played one season before an October 1997 trade sent him to the Boston Celtics. He played seven and a half seasons with the Celtics -- playing initially under Pitino -- and averaged a career-best 9.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in his first season there in 1997-98. He moved to the Phoenix Suns in the middle of the 2004-05 season and finished his NBA playing career with the Los Angeles Clippers. His NBA scoring high was 27 points with the Celtics against New Jersey and he grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds against Orlando. McCarty was a starting forward on the Pitino-coached University of Kentucky's 1996 NCAA Championship team. He started 32 of 36 games as a senior during that championship season when he averaged a career-high 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds. He was second on that deep title squad with 206 rebounds and 28 three-point goals. His top scoring effort as a Wildcat was 24 points against Mississippi as a sophomore in his first collegiate start. McCarty had a cameo appearance in the 1998 film "He Got Game" as the character "Mance." He sang the National Anthem prior to All-Star Saturday Night on the eve of the 2006 NBA All-Star game. He released an R&B/soul CD in 2003 titled "Moment of Love" Since joining the Boston Celtics in 1996, Walter McCarty was involved in every aspect of the team's community outreach including the Southwest Airlines/Boston Celtics Assists program, United Way of Massachusetts Bay, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Boston, the Big Brother Association of Massachusetts Bay, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and many others. In 2001, he became the first Celtic player to be recognized as the NBA Hometown Hero of the Month. McCarty founded The I Love Music Foundation in September 2002 to promote the positive aspects of music and to support the growth of music for youth in the Greater Boston area, as well as his hometown of Evansville, Indiana. A native of Evansville, Ind., McCarty earned a B.A. in communications at Kentucky in 1996. He and his wife Erin have two daughters: Gabrielle and Sasha.
