Lou Carnesecca dies at the age of 99

QUEENS, NY – Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca ’50C, ’60GEd, ’00HON, who led the St. John’s men’s basketball team for 24 seasons and endeared himself to generations of New Yorkers with his wit and warmth, died Saturday his family. He was 99 years old.

The legendary head coach is survived by his beloved wife Mary, to whom he was married for 73 years, as well as his cherished family – daughter Enes, son-in-law Gerard (Jerry), granddaughter Ieva and her fiancé Frank, his dear niece and nephew Susan Chiesa, John Chiesa and his wife, Nancy, as well as his extended family and closest friends join in their loss.

“Looie,” who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992, led St. John’s to 24 wins in 24 seasons at the helm from 1965-70 and 1973-92. His teams reached the postseason every year and appeared in the NCAA Tournament 18 times while appearing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) six times. Those postseason berths were highlighted by a Final Four appearance in 1985 and the program’s fifth NIT title in 1989. His teams also recorded two additional Elite Eight appearances in 1979 and 1991.


Carnesecca was named National Coach of the Year twice, BIG EAST Coach of the Year three times and Metropolitan Coach of the Year six times during his storied career. He led St. John’s to two BIG EAST titles in 1983 and 1986 and his teams compiled a 112-65 regular season record against strong BIG EAST competition, captured three regular season titles and won one overall.


Overall, Carnesecca posted a 526-200 record and won at least 20 games and 18 times in 24 seasons as head coach at St. John’s with a winning percentage of .725, good enough for one of the top 100 marks in Division I history. His teams were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for 161 weeks during his career, including more than 70 weeks as one of the top ten teams in the country.


A native New Yorker, Carnesecca graduated from St. Ann’s Academy in Manhattan (now Archbishop Molloy) before enlisting in the United States Coast Guard during World War II. After returning from the Pacific, Carnesecca enrolled at St. John’s and graduated in 1950. As a student, Carnesecca played on the St. John’s baseball team that advanced to the 1949 College World Series. That team also included Jack Kaiser, Carnesecca’s lifelong friend who later also dedicated his professional life to St. John’s as a baseball coach and athletic director.


After graduating, Carnesecca took the reins at St. Ann’s and built the team into a powerhouse, winning two CHSAA titles. In 1958, Carnesecca turned the program over to another coaching legend, Jack Curran, to take a position on his mentor Joe Lapchick’s staff at St. John’s.


Over the next eight seasons on Lapchick’s team, Carnesecca helped lead St. John’s to two NIT titles in 1959 and 1965. After Lapchick’s resignation in 1965, Carnesecca was appointed 12th^Th Head coach in St. John’s men’s basketball history. Highlights of his first five seasons at the helm included trips to the regional semifinals of the NCAA tournament in 1967 and 1969 and an advance to the 1970 NIT championship game.


In 1970, Carnesecca left St. John’s for three years to coach the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association. During his professional tenure, he led the Nets to the playoffs in each of his three seasons and reached the championship final in 1972.


Carnesecca returned to his alma mater in 1973, ushering in a transformative period in the program’s history that saw the birth of the BIG EAST Conference, of which St. John’s remains a founding member. In addition to his sweaters being the fashion highlights of the league’s early heyday, Carnesecca was also an early champion of the league alongside its founder Dave Gavitt.


Carnesecca once said, “St. John’s is all about the players.” In his four decades of coaching at his alma mater, Carnesecca coached more than 40 NBA draft picks, including first-rounders LeRoy Ellis (1962), Sonny Dove ( 1967), John Warren (1969), Mel Davis (1973) and George Johnson (1978). , Chris Mullin (1985), Bill Wennington (1985), Walter Berry (1986), Mark Jackson (1987), Jayson Williams (1990) and Malik Sealy (1992). Carnesecca remained a fixture in the lives of his former players, as his annual reunions attracted hundreds of them to Queens.


Memorial services for the longtime St. John’s head coach will be announced as they become available.