Lou Carnesecca, St. John's basketball legend and Big East godfather, dies at 99

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Jerry Carino - Asbury Park Press

After his passing Saturday at age 99, former St. John’s basketball coach Lou Carnesecca was hailed as a prodigious winner, a first-rate character, and a founding godfather of the Big East Conference.

P.J. Carlesimo would add something else.

“He was a mentor to me and hundreds and hundreds, if not more, high school and college coaches,” the former Seton Hall coach said by phone Sunday. “The knowledge he would impart, most of the time it wasn’t X’s and O’s. It was how you should conduct yourself, how your team should behave, what’s the classy way to go about things.”

Carlesimo drew on that wisdom after being dealt one of the toughest breaks in college hoops history – the phantom foul against Michigan that cost his Pirates the 1989 NCAA Tournament title. So placid and gracious was Carlesimo’s handling of the call that the offending official, John Clougherty, later credited the coach with saving his career.

Unknown Date & Location, USA; FILE PHOTO; 

St Johns Redmen head coach Lou Carnesecca during the 1986 season. 

Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports 

Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

“Louie was an extremely gracious loser,” Carlesimo said. “There’s a lot of them that were gracious winners, who when they beat you, they would say good things. But when they were losers you’d barely get a shake of the hand, or it was the officials’ fault. Louie was always the same. You could beat him on a controversial call and he would come over and give you a hug after the game. Louie and John (Thompson, of Georgetown) were better at that than anybody.

“That was a thing he would teach young coaches: You don’t have to be a baby and petulant and point fingers.”

Keeping things in perspective

Carnesecca’s record spoke for itself. Over two tours at St. John’s helm, from 1965-70 and 1973-92, he posted a ledger of 526-200, including 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, the 1985 Final Four and the Elite Eight in 1979 and 1991. His Johnnies captured Big East titles in 1983 and 1986 and the NIT crown in 1989. In his 24 campaigns with the Redmen, as they were then known, he never had a losing record.

Among the superstars who emerged from Carnesecca's program were national players of the year Chris Mullin and Walter Berry, New York Knicks point guard Mark Jackson the late All-American Malik Sealy. He helped put the Big East on the map not just with a team that could light up the scoreboard, but Big Apple-style charisma as a senior statesmen among a cast of legendary characters that included founding commissioner Dave Gavitt, Georgetown's John Thompson, Villanova's Rollie Massimino, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, UConn's Jim Calhoun, Carlesimo at the Hall and Providence's Rick Pitino, whose return to the Big East as St. John's current coach received Louie's full blessing.

A two-time recipient of National Coach of the Year honors, Carnesecca was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 1992.

Lou Carnesecca, basketball, 1925-2024

US PRESSWIRE

"Coach Carnesecca's impact extended far beyond the basketball court," Big East commissioner Val Ackerman said in a statement. "He was tough, fiery and resilient, qualities he shared with the conference he helped launch, build and define. His successes propelled the Big East in its early years to the top of the college sports world, and his belief in the power of basketball to define universities remains at the heart of our DNA. A tactical genius on the sidelines, Coach was equal parts teacher, mentor, master motivator, father figure, storyteller, ambassador, icon, champion and friend. He was truly beloved, and his mark on St. John's, the Big East and college basketball will be indelible."

Carlesimo competed against Carnesecca’s teams first as a player at Fordham, then as an assistant there, a head coach at Wagner and finally at Seton Hall.

“First of all he was a great coach – he wasn’t a good coach, he was a great coach,” Carlesimo said. “But he was also one of a handful of guys who could separate the game from outside the game. You could have dinner with him, you could learn from him, you could spend time with him and it was great.”

Come game time, “no one competed any better than he did,” Carlesimo said, “but the ability to keep things in perspective, he did that better than maybe anybody. The record, the wins, the kind of game coach he was and the intensity was fantastic, but he always kept it in perspective.”

That was summarized by one of Carnesecca’s mantras.

“The expression Louie used all the time with the young coaches was, ‘leave the chandeliers,’” Carlesimo said. “You don’t have to get everything. Don’t get too greedy. Keep things in perspective. He’d use that expression a lot and it was good for us coming up.”

'Truly loved the guy'

Statue of St. John's basketball coach Lou Carnesecca 

in Brian Hanlon's studio Jerry Carino

Carlesimo absorbed those lessons at the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association’s weekly luncheons at Mamma Leone's restaurant in New York City, at Big East meetings, at various dinners and awards banquets.

“When I think of Louie, I think less of coaching against him. I think of the times just sitting around talking,” he said. “I’ll miss him. If you talk to anybody who played for him, led by Mully (Chris Mullin), without exception they loved him. It’s not respect, it’s not like, it’s love. They truly loved the guy.”

Right up until last season, Carnesecca continued to be a courtside regular at the on-campus arena named after him. Carlesimo saw him at a function last year and spoke with him on the phone a few times since. The conversations were always full of laughs.

St. John's former head coach Lou Carnesecca at a game in 2023

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

You can measure a coach by wins and titles, but Lou Carnesecca’s legacy goes way beyond.

“He made you feel good about being a coach; that's what he meant to our profession,” Carlesimo said. “It was, you know, I’m a basketball coach like Lou Carnesecca. That’s really special.”

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.