Ed Auricchio
General Manager/ Associate Head Coach
Ed Auricchio has been with the Tropics organization since 2001, when he served as Art "Pilin" Alvarez's assistant coach at Miami Christian. Together, they led the Victors to the 2002 state championship.
Then, when Alvarez was named President of the ABA Miami Tropics in August of 2006, he gave Auricchio the opportunity to be the team's head coach. Auricchio rewarded Alvarez's faith by leading the Tropics to an 18-5 record and a No. 3 ranking in the pro league.
A native of Newark, N.J., Auricchio was a 6-1 power forward for Nutley High. "I was a perimeter shooter in the days before the three-point line," Auricchio said. "If we had had three-pointers back then, it may have been different."
Auricchio then went to Rutgers University, where he graduated with a B.A. in Business in 1975. He was there in 1976 when Rutgers made it to the Final Four before losing to Michigan.
After college, Auricchio ran and coached youth basketball leagues for numerous years before becoming the JV head coach and varsity assistant at Coral Gables High School for three years. His JV's recorded a 49-12 record in that span and with the varsity he had the opportunity to work with two NFL Pro Bowlers, Frank Gore of the San Francisco 49ers and Jonathan Vilma of the New York Jets.
He then joined forces with Alvarez on a Miami Christian team that went 38-2, set the state record for wins and boasted star players such as Jose Juan Barea, Carlos Rivera, Jesus Verdejo, Sammy Hernandez and Ivan Lopez. Barea is now in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, Lopez and Rivera are also pros and Verdejo and Hernandez are college standouts.
From there, Auricchio became Alvarez's assistant with the "Travelling Tropics," helping to compile a 56-8 record in two years.
Auricchio was then named the head coach of another one of the nation's premier NIKE travel programs, the South Florida Heat. In two years with the Heat, Auricchio coached Zach Peacock, now at Georgia Tech; John Roberson, who played for Bobby Knight at Texas Tech; Brandon Williams who plays for the Stetson Hatters, Jon Kreft, who signed with Florida State; Avery Holley and Xavier Perkins, both at Florida Atlantic; Tremayne Russell playing at Florida International; Steve Toyloy at Cincinnati and Damian Hollis, a standout at George Washington University. Leonard Hankerson and Jermaine Johnson chose to accept football scholarships at the University of Miami and Auburn University, respectively.
Auricchio was 64-24 in two years with the Heat. In the past 10 years, 75 of his players have gone on to play college ball.
Now, with the Tropics competing in the FIBA Liga De Las Americas, Auricchio is the general manager and the driving force behind finding the players who will be expected to win another championship for the organization.
It was during the second round of the tournament when Alvarez decided to return to the sidelines, that he called upon Auricchio to help him take the team to new heights, which ultimately resulted in a 7-2 record in the international competition and a Bronze Medal.
Auricchio is also the organization's Director of Player Personnel and his past successes and eye for talent is what makes the Miami Tropics Prep Recruiting Service popular with coaches across the USA.
Don Kelbick
Skills and Drills Instructor
On Sept. 21, 2007, Don Kelbick was named the head coach of the Miami Tropics' pro team that will compete in the FIBA Liga De Las Americas.
He led the team to a 3-0 record in the first round of the league. He then gave way to team president Art "Pilin" Alvarez as the head coach.
Kelbick coached for 24 years in the college ranks, including a long stint as a head coach.
Born on Jan. 29, 1954 in New York City, Kelbick was a shooting guard at Boston University, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in elementary education and a Master's Degree in recreational management.
After college, he worked for two years as a graduate assistant at Boston, helping coach the women's basketball team. On that team was Debbie Miller, who made the U.S. Olymic team in 1980.
For the rest of his career, Kelbick switched to men's basketball, starting with one-year stints as an assistant coach at a pair of colleges - Longwood (Va.) and Hofstra.
That led to a four-year stay as a college assistant coach at Marist. From there, he worked for 12 years as the head coach at Keene State, a Division II college in New Hampshire.
Kelbick then became a high school head coach, leading Florida Air Academy for two years. Florida Air produced six Division I recruits in those two years.
Next up was Kelbick's four-year stint at Florida Internationnal University as an assistant coach.
After FIU, Kelbick served as a general manager for the Brevard Blue Ducks of the United States Basketball League. He also did some scouting for the NBA's New York Knicks.
Kelbick also started his own business, training numerous NBA players such as Raja Bell, Carlos Arroyo, Bruce Bowen, Carlos Boozer and more.
Other prominent players who have worked with Kelbick are Rasual Butler, Tim Hardaway, Guillermo Diaz, Rob Hite and Coleman Collins.
Go to top