RIP Coach Carnesecca

fan since 65 said:
One of my stories about Coach: Took PeoplExpress to Pittsburgh (probably $19 of $29 each way) in January 1986 for a game, staying at the same hotel with the team (Dennis Myron told us which one). We get there but due to a fire we were switched to another hotel, same one as the team of course. Hotel has a nightclub off of the lobby, Coach sees us checking in and was annoyed even though he knew us because he was copying Hoya Paranoia at the time. Dennis told him that the new hotel was ours from the start and the only reason the team was there also was due to the fire. But he also didn't approve of the nightclub complete with waitresses just off the lobby and wanted to change hotels. Dennis convinced him that there wouldn't be much available elsewhere late on a Friday night for a traveling party of 25-30. We also volunteered, along with Dutch Ouderkirk, to guard the bar/nightclub to make sure no players came in. Tough job but we took one for the team.

We won by a point so our guard duty worked.

"Berry did all that and more today as he scored 34 points and brought St. John's from a 15-point deficit to a 68-67 victory over Pittsburgh before a capacity crowd of 6,798 at Fitzgerald Field House."

''It was a great, great comeback,'' said Lou Carnesecca, the Redmen's coach, who watched his team come from 14 down against Connecticut last Saturday. The Redmen won that game, 61-60, and now they have a 19-2 mark, 6-1 in the Big East Conference. Pitt slipped to 13-6 and 4-4."

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I use to crack up all of the time when they would talk about Hoya Paranoia and staying at out of the way lodgings for games as we tended to do the same thing.
 
I’d vote for Lapchick over Looie because of his NIT titles in the early forties. At this time the NIT was the equal of the NCAA. Joe won two more NITs ,1959 and 1965 when the NIT was no longer on the level of the NCAA.
SJU was lucky to have two great men as coaches. We can read today how many basketball people loved Looie and the feeling was the same about Joe. These two men might be the most admired coaches in the history of college basketball in any order.
 
I have so many stories including one I previously shared here on how he helped me between my junior and senior year after my mother passed away. I can’t repeat it now because I am becoming too emotional just thinking about it but will never forget it and what people from St. John’s did for me that year.

When he announced his retirement, I wrote a letter to him and delivered it personally. I sat with him in his office and I asked him not to open it until after I left for I knew I would get emotional. We had a nice long chat before I left. I got a call from he a few days later thanking me for my kind words and a note in the mail later.

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Rest In Peace Coach
 
SJU85 said:
I have so many stories including one I previously shared here on how he helped me between my junior and senior year after my mother passed away. I can’t repeat it now because I am becoming too emotional just thinking about it but will never forget it and what people from St. John’s did for me that year.

When he announced his retirement, I wrote a letter to him and delivered it personally. I sat with him in his office and I asked him not to open it until after I left for I knew I would get emotional. We had a nice long chat before I left. I got a call from he a few days later thanking me for my kind words and a note in the mail later.

“Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Rest In Peace Coach
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The stories that Alumni Hall has told that you were around the team too are some of the best I've ever heard. I don't think I'm ever going to get on a bus again after the story Almuni told which you laughed at and said it was true about Looie cranking up the heat on the team bus so much :)
 
GardenCity62 said:
I’d vote for Lapchick over Looie because of his NIT titles in the early forties. At this time the NIT was the equal of the NCAA. Joe won two more NITs ,1959 and 1965 when the NIT was no longer on the level of the NCAA.
SJU was lucky to have two great men as coaches. We can read today how many basketball people loved Looie and the feeling was the same about Joe. These two men might be the most admired coaches in the history of college basketball in any order.
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That is quite true about both, Louie and Joe Lapchick and the esteem they were held in by peers , reporters ,players , other Coaches , etc

They were 2 different personalities . Lapchick was put on a well deserved Pedestal and just a all around Great person and likeable guy . He was quiet compared to Louis but , that’s not a knock on Lou.
Plus Lapchick was a strategist and master of Coaching the best out of every player on his team .
Bobby Knight , worshipped Lapchick for his Coaching Skills .. Putting aside Bobby’s own demons .
Lou was a People Guy and coached that way . He also earned the respect and love of almost all his players ,, over his entire career . Was he a great Strategist or in game Coach ?
He was good enough but , not at the Knight or Coach K , Level .

A big University mistake was forcing Retirement on Lapchick and probably ending any chance we had to get Jabbar . Kareem has great respect and trust in Joe and he has been quoted as saying “ he would likely have come to St John’s if Coach Lapchick was the Coach .”

Louie got Mullin , Berry , Mark Jackson , Wennington , Glass,, Reggie Carter , etc to come here . I’m probably short on some others . Mel Davis , George Johnson , etc .

All up, we have been blessed , mostly in the past , with HOF Coaches .. Louie and Joe are both in that category .
 
I posted the following in another chain awhile back but thought it worth reposting here. RIP coach.

My uncle happened to be Looie's eye doctor, and was very friendly with the Carnesecca family. Through this connection, I went to a team reception at the Sly Fox Inn circa 1985-86 where I met Looie for the first time. I was 10 or 11 and played for my CYO team St. Robert's at the time. The Mullin teams were my absolute heros and I was in awe being at the reception. My uncle introduced me to Looie, saying that I was a player and specifically a point guard. I was beyond nervous. Coach looked at me and smiled, took me by the shoulder and said something to the effect of "I think we'll have an opening at the point down the road if you work hard enough, you never know." I don't think my feet touched the ground for about a month after that.
 
Beasts of the East said:
No doubt one of the finest men, bar none, to ever grace our halls as a student, coach, and administrator. St. John's was the canvas for his life, and he painted a masterpiece over 3/4 of a century.

Coin toss for greatest coach as well:

Joe Lapchick

334-130 overall .720

Lou C.

524-200 overall (.724)

127-69 Big East (.648)

Brian Mahoney

56-58 overall (.493)

29-43 conf (.403)

Fran Fraschilla

35-24 overall (.593)

21-15 conf (.583)

Mike Jarvis

110-61 overall (.643)

50-32 conf (.610)

Norm Roberts

81-101 overall (.429)

32-70 conference (.314)

Steve Lavin

92-72 overall (.561)

46-44 conf (.511)

Chris Mullin

59-73 overall (.447)

20-52 conf (.278)

Mike Anderson

68-56 overall (.548)

30-46 conf (.395)
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Buck Freeman played for St. John's then coached the Wonder Five to National prominence, 177-31, .850, best % of the lot.

Frank McGuire short stint 102-36 .739 pretty good too.
 
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espken said:
Tail end of Mullin interview at start of video.
Complete interview will surface soon, until then this will do.

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With all the stories of how nice Lou was, and I had the good fortune to meet him a couple times when I was a kid and he was, the thing that might be getting lost is how successful he was. The man had St John’s ranked number 1 in the country , was a 1 seed in the tournament and made a Final 4. If I am one of the 4 or 5 younger guys on this board I probably think that is made up.
 
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