William LaRochelle was an American college basketball coach for Merrimack College.
Early life LaRochelle was born in Methuen Massachusetts, he attended Bates College and got a masters degree at Boston University. He then served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Coaching career After his service during the Second World War, LaRochelle began coaching the North Andover high school basketball team, which he led to the 1958 Massachusetts Class C State Championship. He was subsequently offered the head coaching position at Merrimack College.Merrimack basketball coach database https://www.coachesdatabase.com/merrimack-warriors-basketball/
In his first season as coach (1958–59), the program finished with 12 wins against 11 losses. This marked Merrimack College’s first-ever winning season. LaRochelle and Merrimacks first winning season Concord Monitor newspaper https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/835175807/ During the 1966–67 season, he led the Warriors to a school-record 17 wins and recorded his 100th victory as coach, becoming the first in program history to achieve this milestone. The 1969–70 season was his final at Merrimack.
In his 12 years at Merrimack, LaRochelle led the Warriors to nine winning seasons, with an overall record of 153–116.Merrimack basketball season archives https://merrimackathletics.com/sports/2017/7/27/archives-mens-basketball.aspx He held the Merrimack record for most coaching wins for 20 years until he was eventually surpassed by Bert Hammel during the 1990–91 season.
Later life
La Rochelle moved to California in 1983 and was involved in the local music scene and served as a golf instructor. He died on May 7, 2012 and survived by 3 of his 5 children and multiple grandchildren and grandchildren. He was later be inducted into the North Andover Sports Hall of Fame.William LaRochelle obituary https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/venturacountystar/name/william-larochelle-obituary?id=10237651 LaRochelle biography in the Ventura County Star news paper https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/778279199/
Head coaching record TeamYearWinsLossPostseasonMerrimack Warriors1958-591211Merrimack Warriors1959-601111Merrimack Warriors1960-611511Merrimack Warriors1961-62129Merrimack Warriors1962-63149Merrimack Warriors1963-64137Merrimack Warriors1964-65146 Merrimack Warriors 1965-66 7 15 Merrimack Warriors 1966-67 17 6 Merrimack Warriors 1967-68 14 11 Merrimack Warriors 1968-69 11 11 Merrimack Warriors 1969-70 12 10 Total 153 116 Note* Merrimack was not in a conference during this time
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