Larese was born in New York City and attended St. Ann's Academy (now Archbishop Molloy High School) in Queens.

A 6'4" (1.93 m) guard, he attended the University of North Carolina, leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in foul shooting in 1959–60 with 86.8 percent, which stood as the single-season UNC mark for 25 years.

Larese played eight games for Chicago before being waived on November 29, 1961; the Philadelphia Warriors signed him as a free agent the next day.

The job was temporary, however; Larese agreed to coach the Nets for only one season, while Lou Carnesecca got out of his contract helming St. John's.

[2] After leading Allentown to the EBA playoffs that spring, however, Larese found that coaching the Jets was taking too much time away from his executive position at the shoe company, and so resigned at the end of the year.