Bio

George Francis Rosetti

Perkinston Agricultural High School &  Junior College (1957-1958) / Basketball
Gulfport, Mississippi

George Rosetti was a member of the 1957-58 men’s basketball team at Perk that was the first to play its home games at the Wentzell Center. During that season, the Gulfport native was a Mississippi Association of Junior Colleges All-State selection on a team that led the state in scoring.

“I remember George best from his play in the South Mississippi tournament,” says former coach Mel Carpenter. “With 45 seconds to play and his team down by six points to Co-Lin, George single-handedly scored the six points to send the game into overtime. Then with his inspired play, we went on to win the game and qualified for the state championship.”

After his time at Perk, Rossetti got to see the world thanks to the U.S. Army. “It was a great experience,” he says. “I got to see a lot of Europe and played basketball, baseball and tennis while in the service. That’s where I started to enjoy teaching. I taught a map reading class, and I enjoyed it. I knew that if I got a degree that I’d enjoy teaching.”

After leaving the Army, Rosetti went to school and graduated from William Carey College before embarking on his coaching career. He coached basketball from 1961-2004 at the junior high, high school, college and professional levels. While at Phillips Junior College, he led the women’s team to the back-to-back National Little College Athletic Association national titles in 1985 and 1986. The 1985 season was only his second as the team’s coach and the third year of the program. That team went 18-4 and three straight games in the tournament at St. Paul, Minn. The 1986 team scored 71.1 points per game while only allowing 61.3 for the opposition. From 1987 to 2004, Rosetti served as an assistant coach for the Mississippi Sharks of the Global Basketball Association, the Mississippi Coast Gamblers of the United States Basketball League and as a high school coach at Harrison Central and St. John.