RIP Coach Carnesecca

In Billy Schaeffer's eulogy he told a great story that wonderfully encapsulated the Looie many of us experienced.

Looie, Billy and Rino were finishing lunch at a local Greek restaurant when a guy approached the table and greeted Looie. Looie immediately warmly responded, asking "How's the family?", and proceeded to be in a deep and prolonged exchange, something Billy learned over the years to withdraw from and step away.

As Rino, Billy, and Looie left the restaurant, Looie asked the two, "Who the bleep was that guy?"

After the laughter stopped, Billy explained that was Coach just being the person he was, making someone's day, giving them a story they would hold dearly forever.

See you all at the K-state game that for fans will sort of feel like a wake in the gym that bears his name. Even if you won't be at the game you'll be there in spirit.

A win, unofficially 527, would be great too.
 
Beasts of the East said:
In Billy Schaeffer's eulogy he told a great story that wonderfully encapsulated the Looie many of us experienced.

Looie, Billy and Rino were finishing lunch at a local Greek restaurant when a guy approached the table and greeted Looie. Looie immediately warmly responded, asking "How's the family?", and proceeded to be in a deep and prolonged exchange, something Billy learned over the years to withdraw from and step away.

As Rino, Billy, and Looie left the restaurant, Looie asked the two, "Who the bleep was that guy?"

After the laughter stopped, Billy explained that was Coach just being the person he was, making someone's day, giving them a story they would hold dearly forever.

See you all at the K-state game that for fans will sort of feel like a wake in the gym that bears his name. Even if you won't be at the game you'll be there in spirit.

A win, unofficially 527, would be great too.
Click to expand...
I did not know Coach Carnesecca well at all, I can barely say I knew him, but I did have occasion to see him maybe a dozen times at clinics, seminars, and dinners. I was fortunate enough to speak with him one on one three times, twice for about 5 minutes, the last time for about 2, but the last one is the unforgettable one.
It was a couple of years after the second one and he approached me, remembered my name and specifically asked me how a player situation I had asked for his opinion about had worked out. I was floored that he remembered, more so that he inquired and I told him it had not worked out, that I ultimately had to dismiss the player from the team. He then asked me how the young man was currently doing.
The issue had been school not basketball related and when I told him that he had cleaned up that part, finished doing well in school, and was now in college. He replied simply, “Very good, that is much more important than basketball. Congratulations.”
What had Coach’s advice been a few years before? Not a word about the specific situation but rather something much more profound and helpful. VERY much paraphrasing, “We as coaches are here to use basketball to help them become men, winning games is only top priority when the scoreboard is on. Follow your heart.”
Just simply a GREAT, GREAT man. This thread is testimony to that, much more than my very short, but to me, memorable encounter.
Funny, he has not been coaching them for a long time obviously, but the Johnnie’s just FEEL different to me already.
 
Thanks to all of you who attended the Mass for Coach . The comments you contributed as well as , the comments of former Players are of great consolation for those of us unable to attend Lou’s Funeral .

While , we as fans , had nearly life long affection for Coach , it’s remarkable to hear the tributes that his former Players talked about today .
I was moved by all the comments from those legends but , most struck by Walter Berry’s tribute . I , perhaps like others , never knew of the closeness of Lou to Walter, not only in Basketball but , as the Truth said “ he taught me a lot about being a man and was a Father figure to me , as I didn’t have one .”

Eloquent and touching words from one of our quieter Legends . I hope that Walter knows how much we as fans and Alums value his playing Career here and secure in knowing he is , unquestionably 1 of the 2 Greatest Players we have had in the last 43 years .
 
My favorite Johnnie.
“I feel like he was there with us today,” Wilcher said of Carnesecca. “All the extra energy we had coming into the second half felt like that was from Coach himself , It felt like he was just there with us. We all felt that. We all turned it up a little bit and then the whole gym felt it because the gym was erupting the whole time . . . that was the loudest I’ve heard it so far.”
 
Beasts of the East said:
In Billy Schaeffer's eulogy he told a great story that wonderfully encapsulated the Looie many of us experienced.

Looie, Billy and Rino were finishing lunch at a local Greek restaurant when a guy approached the table and greeted Looie. Looie immediately warmly responded, asking "How's the family?", and proceeded to be in a deep and prolonged exchange, something Billy learned over the years to withdraw from and step away.

As Rino, Billy, and Looie left the restaurant, Looie asked the two, "Who the bleep was that guy?"

After the laughter stopped, Billy explained that was Coach just being the person he was, making someone's day, giving them a story they would hold dearly forever.

See you all at the K-state game that for fans will sort of feel like a wake in the gym that bears his name. Even if you won't be at the game you'll be there in spirit.

A win, unofficially 527, would be great too.
Click to expand...
A former manager told a similar story prior to the mass. That was coach, he made you feel like the most important person in the world, even if you didn’t know him.
 
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