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| Lou Carnesecca during a game at Madison Square Garden. Provided by St. John's. |
Lou Carnesecca, the patriarch of the St. John's Men's Basketball program, passed away on Saturday, the team announced just hours after their win over Harvard.
The most successful head coach in the program's history was 99 years old. He would have been 100 in just over five weeks, on January 5, 2025. The school planned on having a highly-anticipated tribute game to him the day before when the Red Storm takes on Butler.
Carnesecca, whom the campus' arena is named after, won 526 games in his 24 years at the helm from 1965-70 and 1973-92. The reason it was two stints is he coached the New York Nets for three seasons, taking the Nets to the ABA playoffs in each one of the them, including the championship round in 1972. His record was 526-200, a .725 winning percentage, which ranks in the top 100 in Division I history. St. John's ranked in the AP Top 25 for 161 weeks during his career, which included 70 times as one of the top 10 teams in the country.
St. John's made the postseason in each season Looie coached, including 18 trips to the NCAA Tournament and six appearances in the NIT. His teams won 20-plus games 18 times.
The biggest highlights of Looie's tenure were St. John's run to the 1985 Final Four and winning the 1989 NIT. There also were a pair of Elite Eight appearances in 1979 and 1991. St. John's also won two Big East titles in 1983 and 1986, and with a regular-season record of 112-65 in conference play, won a regular-season title and tied for three others.
Carnesecca was honored as the National Coach of the Year twice, Big East Coach of the Year three times, and Metropolitan Coach of the Year six times.
One of Carnesecca's many quotes was, "at St. John's, it's all about the players." In his tenure, he coached over 40 NBA Draft picks. The following were selected in the first round: LeRoy Ellis (1962), Sonny Dove (1967), John Warren (1969), Mel Davis (1973), George Johnson (1978), Chris Mullin (1985), Bill Wennington (1985), Walter Berry (1986), Mark Jackson (1987), Jayson Williams (1990), and Malik Sealy (1992).
Carnesecca is a native New Yorker who graduated from St. Ann's Academy in Manhattan, now Archbishop Molloy, before he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. When he returned from the Pacific, he enrolled at St. John's, and graduated in 1950. When he was an undergrad, he played on the St. John's baseball team that went to the 1949 College World Series. One of his teammates was Jack Kaiser, who became a lifelong friend who became St. John's baseball coach and athletic director.
Then, after graduation, Carnesecca took over the helm at St. Ann's and made them a powerhouse, winning two CHSAA titles. In 1958, he handed the program over to Jack Curran, and joined Joe Lapchick's staff at St. John's.
Over eight seasons on Lapchick's staff, St. John's won the NIT in 1959 and '65, and upon his retirement in 1965, Carnesecca was named the 12th coach in the program's history. His first five seasons included trips to the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals in 1967 and '69, as well as reaching the NIT Championship game in 1970.
Carnesecca is survived by his wife of 73 years, Mary, daughter Enes, son-in-law Gerald (Jerry), granddaughter Ieva and her fiance Frank, his dear niece and nephew, Susan Chiesa, John Chiesa and his wife, Nancy, as well as his extended family and many close friends.
St. John's, in the release announcing this sad news, said information memorial services or Carnesecca will be announced as its becomes available.
To watch this video tribute from St. John's, please click here.
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