By The Associated Press’s Mike Fitzpatrick
NEW YORK Lou Carnesecca was the only person to wear it in the lengthy and legendary history of basketball in New York City.
Just a few weeks short of turning 100, the exuberant St. John’s coach, whose bizarre sweaters became a symbol of his team’s thrilling 1985 Final Four run, passed away on Saturday at the age of 99.
According to the institution, a family member informed it that Carnesecca passed away in a hospital with her loved ones by her side. According to St. John’s, the Hall of Fame coach won over generations of New Yorkers with his kindness and humor.
In his day, Carnesecca was a beloved city sports star, and his love for Little Looie remained unwavering in a busy town that had little tolerance for its owners, coaches, players, and executives.
He became the face of a university whose Queens campus arena would someday bear his name. He coached St. John’s for 24 seasons over two stints, qualifying for a postseason tournament every year. In advance of the 2021–22 season, a statue of him was unveiled. During a Q&A session with the school, Carnesecca was asked to define St. John’s and she said, “Home.”
He led St. John’s to 18 seasons with at least 20 victories and 18 trips to the NCAA Tournament there. He had 30-win seasons in 1985 and 1986 and finished with a 526-200 record there. Additionally, it served as the foundation for the Big East Conference’s success and the place where St. John’s became a charter member.
In a league that started in 1979 and soon established itself as one of the best in the country, he won coach of the year three times. Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, and Walter Berry were some of his best players in those early Big East years.
Even though the NIT had long been a poor cousin to the NCAAs, Carnesecca led St. John’s to its sixth NIT championship in 1989. In 1992, the year he retired, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
At his induction, he wore a sharp suit instead of a sweater and declared, “I never scored a basket.” The players gave it their all. It is impossible to have a game without players.
He was a traditional coach with a foundation in principles. Carnesecca was a dynamic, whirling figure on the sidelines during it all, with his arms swinging, legs kicking, and shirt tails flying as he coiled up in frustration over a missed shot or a painful call. However, he never went too far with his pranks to the point of tossing chairs.
Carnesecca’s players were his entire world; he had a deep passion for the game and had spent his entire life in schoolyards, dilapidated gyms, and prestigious stadiums. He cherished the scent of perspiration and the sensation of rubber scorching as footwear touched a polished floor.
In a sport full of inflated egos, intense recruitment competitions, and a never-ending quest for the next contract, he remained the epitome of gentlemanly conduct. Former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese once referred to him as one of the game’s titans and our soul and conscience.
In 1983 and 1986, Carnesecca led St. John’s to Big East Tournament victories. In 1979 and 1991, his teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight, and they were in the top 10 of the AP Top 25 for more than 70 weeks.At Madison Square Garden, a banner commemorating his 526 victories at St. John’s is suspended from the rafters.
FILE – On April 1, 2015, in New York, Lou Carnesecca, the former men’s basketball coach at St. John’s, smiles at a press conference announcing the hiring of Chris Mullin, a retired NBA basketball All-Star and former player. (John Minchillo/AP Photo, File)AP
He coached over 40 NBA draft selections, including 11 first-round selections, including Mullin, Jackson, and Malik Sealy.
Carnesecca never took himself too seriously in spite of all of that. He was always of the opinion that a glass of Chianti and some fettuccini with Bolognese sauce should never be put aside because of a difficult loss. He made friends everywhere he went, held clinics all over the world, and made toasts. He was there with a wisecrack in his raspy, breathy voice and a kind word. Even though his family originated in Tuscany, he was able to compete with the top comics from the Borscht Belt.
In an interview with the Hartford Courant, former UConn coach Jim Calhoun said, “I don’t know if there’s anybody else in coaching like him.” No one despises Looie, despite the fact that the Big East is hated. You like Looie if you enjoy basketball. You like Looie if you enjoy children.
Born on January 5, 1925, Luigi P. Carnesecca was the son of Italian immigrants. He was raised in East Harlem, Manhattan, above his father’s deli and grocery store. He supported New York Yankees players like Tony Lazzeri and Joe DiMaggio because he took his heritage seriously.
Following a stint in the Coast Guard during World War II, he was appointed coach at his high school, which is now Archbishop Molloy, a longtime basketball powerhouse. His old college, St. John’s, where he had played baseball on a team that advanced to the 1949 College World Series, hired him as an assistant in 1958, but he did not play varsity basketball there.
He spent eight seasons working for Joe Lapchick, and the Hall of Fame coach’s teachings on hard labor and humility lasted a lifetime. Later, Carnesecca would share with Mullin some advice he received from Lapchick: “Today is a peacock, tomorrow is a feather duster.”
Carnesecca stated, “I learned more when Coach Lapchick cleared his throat than I could have at any clinic.”
The 20-win seasons gradually piled up after he took over for Lapchick in 1965. Carnesecca, however, was not impervious to the pros’ allure after five years. Rick Barry was one of his players during his three years as coach of the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association.
Years later, in 1982–83, when his St. John’s team finished 28–5, Carnesecca thought back on his time in the ABA and the pressures of coaching at the collegiate level.
He claimed that pressure was the reason he lost fifty games while coaching professionally. I had no desire to get out of bed. This team might be coached by my mom.
His professional career was short-lived. Carnesecca knew he wasn’t meant to live there. He stated there was a limit to how many times he could deliver the same halftime address. In 1973, he went back to St. John’s.
Even if his city was no longer the recruitment hotspot of previous generations, winning seasons came quickly after. Prominent high school athletes moved to colleges with shiny arenas in the south and west, eliminating the need for New York’s commercial appeal to enhance their reputation.
Carnesecca acknowledged that he had a lot of potential in his neighborhood when questioned why he didn’t broaden his hunt for players and go outside of his city’s five boroughs. He removed a subway token from his pocket, which is now a holdover from earlier generations.
“That’s my budget for recruiting,” he remarked.
As a throwback to a time when universities like City College and NYU were significant not only in the Big Apple but also throughout college basketball, Carnesecca and St. John’s had captured the attention of New York by the 1984–85 season. At a crowded Madison Square Garden, the Redmen—who would eventually alter their moniker to the Red Storm—played hard, exciting games against teams led by Patrick Ewing and coached by John Thompson of Georgetown, Rollie Massimino of Villanova, and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse.
FILE: On November 23, 1991, Lou Carnesecca watches his St. John’s team play Niagara in New York from the sidelines. (Mark Lennihan/AP Photo, File)AP
At that point, The Sweater’s story began to take shape. Like an inflated family story, Carnesecca would often narrate his perplexing foray into the world of fashion throughout the years.
In essence, Carnesecca was ill and St. John’s was preparing for a January road trip to Pittsburgh. His wife advised he should wear a sweater because the building would be drafty. He discovered one that an Italian basketball coach had given him. It was a brown pullover with wide stripes of turquoise. It never appeared in GQ’s pages.
Indeed, it is unsightly. “Carnesecca said.”
Whatever. The coach had his lucky charm when Mullin made the game-winning shot at the buzzer. The sweater remained with him. In the process, St. John’s broke Georgetown’s winning streak of 29 games and soared to the top of the rankings.
However, there were also two crushing defeats to Georgetown during the 16-2 run with the sweater. In February 1985, a gleeful Thompson outshone his well-liked opponent by bringing a replica onto the court in what became known as The Sweater Game, which attracted a large television audience.
Carnesecca finally put the pullover away after running out of luck. For the NCAA Tournament, he then opted for a tan, snowflake number. Before Carnesecca advanced to the Final Four with a victory over North Carolina State in the West Regional final, St. John’s defeated Southern, Arkansas, and Kentucky.
He said, “I’ll remember this when I go to my grave.”
Along with Memphis and two Big East rivals, Georgetown and Villanova, St. John’s was traveling to Lexington, Kentucky. Despite trailing 32-28 at the half, St. John’s continued to play Georgetown in the semifinals. However, the Hoyas held Mullin to eight points as they won 77-59.
Carnesecca stated of Georgetown, which was defeated by Villanova in one of the greatest championship games in sports, “I think we tried everything.”
Mullin was one of a number of coaches that succeeded Carnesecca at St. John’s after he departed. When the Red Storm played at The Garden, Carnesecca would make his way there even in his 90s, about thirty years after he stopped coaching. Even though he walked hesitantly, his intelligence and wit were quick, and when the big screen panned in on him, the audience erupted. The coach was at home.
When he retired at age 67, he stated, “It’s going to be very difficult to put the ball down, but the time has come.” Actually, there are two causes. I still have a great liking for basketball, and I still have half of my marbles.
According to the school, in addition to his extended family, Carnesecca leaves behind his wife of 73 years, Mary, daughter Enes, son-in-law Gerard, granddaughter, niece, and nephew.
This obituary was primarily written by Fred Lief, a former sports reporter for the Associated Press. This report was written by Paul Montella, a former AP Sports Writer.
Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women s college basketball:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-pollandAP News Hub: Women’s College Basketball
More sports news
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!