The Pirates made their first ever NCAA tournament in 1988, and Carlesimo was named the Big East Conference coach of the year.

In 1989, Carlesimo led the Pirates to their first-ever Final Four appearance following a 78–65 upset over the #2 seed Indiana Hoosiers coached by Bobby Knight.

After a 6–23 record in his first season, he turned the team into a consistent title contender and eventual tournament runner-up and number one seed.

[6] Carlesimo was an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski with the U.S. national team in the 1990 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.

However instead of falling in the standings, Carlesimo led the team to a winning record and the playoffs in his first season as an NBA head coach.

After leaving the Warriors, Carlesimo worked as a broadcaster and analyst with The NBA on TNT until being hired as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich in 2002.

[11] The team broke up the core of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis which made for a difficult first season.

On May 31, 2010, Carlesimo had reached an agreement to join the Toronto Raptors as an assistant coach under Jay Triano.

[17] Carlesimo took a team floundering at 14–14, and compiled 35–19 record for a fourth-place finish in the East, earning home-court advantage for the Nets in the first round.

On May 5, 2013, Nets general manager Billy King announced Carlesimo would not be retained as head coach after the team lost in their first round series against the Chicago Bulls in 7 games.