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The Basketball Podcast: EP395 with Warren Caruso on Coaching with Perspective and Gratitude
Warren Caruso is a coaching fixture in New England basketball, having served as the head coach for the Husson men’s basketball program since 1994. Throughout his remarkable 35-year tenure as both a head and assistant coach for the Eagles, Caruso has built one of the most consistently successful programs in the region, currently ranking second in New England in wins by an active coach and top 10 nationally in NCAA Division III wins.
Caruso’s record is defined by dominance in conference play and postseason consistency. He has led the Eagles to an astounding 17 Conference Regular Season Championships and 16 Conference Tournament Championships, posting a formidable 16-4 record in championship games. Overall, his teams have secured 16 total NAIA/NCAA National Tournament appearances (10 NCAA, 6 NAIA). His sustained excellence is further highlighted by guiding his teams to 15 seasons with 20 or more wins, including a five-year streak from 2012-13 to 2016-17.
The winningest coach in North Atlantic Conference history, Caruso’s success has earned him numerous personal accolades, including seven Conference Coach of the Year honors (most recently in 2025) and three Maine State Coach of the Year titles. He was inducted into the Husson Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023. As a former four-year letter-winner and team captain for the Eagles, Caruso has maintained a strong pipeline of talent, having recruited 23 of the 55 1,000-point scorers in program history since taking over.
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Warren Caruso Quotes:
“One thing that I’d say really evolved for us is it was about 14 years ago we were at the Final Four and we heard a retired Navy SEAL. He talked about core values and standards and how important they were with the Navy SEALs and the Marines and all those organizations and that was something we took back with us that we implemented the following year and kind of evolved to. Now we have five core principles that really drive us.”
“We’ve evolved into this mindset that’s driven our recruiting, it’s driven our accountability and we talk about recruiting like-minded individuals to these core values and we present them in the recruiting process . . we think it’s really, really helped our program. Even more so today than maybe early on in my coaching career.”
“Often, we measure success in our non-conference opportunities and that sets the stage for us to be in a position to win championships. But it’s those best defensive teams that we’ve had that generally put themselves in a position at the end of the year to be a championship caliber team.”
“Almost every one of our guys has a trainer at home that they work with. So, we’ve adjusted some of our philosophies to that in our practice scheduling . . One thing that we find is because they work so much one-on-zero, they don’t have the same knowledge of reads that maybe old school basketball guys would have. We find ourselves teaching and breaking that stuff down even further than maybe we would have 15 years ago.”
“One of the biggest evolutions is the student-athlete is much better skilled on an individual basis . . Learning to play within a 5-on-5 concept is something that we’re constantly building on and trying to get a better understanding for our guys.”
“We spend about 20 minutes before every practice going over the previous day’s practice . . we try to break down the situations where we’re noticing weaknesses. A lot of times it’s defensive coverage, rotations, some footwork things. Offensively, it’s shot selection to the reads off whether it be split action or ball screen action . . just trying to show them visually.”
“We’ve always asked our students to be as good as they can be at everything that they do . . trying to instill those values, because that’s a valuable lesson in life. No one starts out as a VP or a head coach, you’ve got to earn your stripes. And the way you earn those stripes and move along is to be the best that you can be.”
“Everything has an opportunity to be something that you can make positive. And we want our guys to feel that way . . one of the things that I’m really proud of our groups over the years is that we’ve responded well after a loss or even a run on the court and mostly because we’re looking at the next thing.”
“Research came out . . and they started talking about the value of time off and that mental and physical freshness. And it really resonated with us . . Something we started integrating, and I think our guys really appreciate it, we monitor our guys working out on their own, too. You’re not doing us any good if we’re trying to help keep you fresh, if you’re going to go at 90 minutes on your own on a day off.”
“We do it with a perspective of the process of getting ourselves to where we want to go and being the best version of ourselves on an everyday basis . . A life of gratitude is a life of joy. You can be grateful for whatever you have and we remind our guys, only 6% of high school athletes play college athletics. If you’re one of those 6%, whether you’re on the floor or not, you’re still doing something amazing. And when we keep that perspective, I think we can really find joy in our life.”
Warren Caruso Breakdown:
Warren Caruso Selected Links from the Podcast:
Warren Caruso
Bruce MacGregor
Will Taylor
Doc Rivers
Gabby Price
Neil Waterman
Kissy Walker
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