It always seems a bit unfair when someone dies close to their 100th Birthday, most recently with Betty White on New Year's Eve in 2021. It's as if, If whoever decides these things is going to let them get that far, why not grant them the milestone?
Luigi P. Carnesecca was born on January 5, 1925 in Manhattan, a son of Italian imimgrants. He went to St. Ann's Academy, and served in the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. He went to St. John's University in Jamaica, Queens on the G.I. Bill. He then coached at St. Ann's, leading them to the City's Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) title in 1952 and 1958.
Archbishop Thomas Molloy, the Ordinary of the Diocese of Brooklyn, offered St. Ann's a new site on land he owned in the Briarwood section of Queens. They built their new school there in 1957. In return, the school was renamed Archbishop Molloy High School in his honor. In addition to Carnesecca, its basketball legends include Tommy Kearns, Brian Winters, Kevin Joyce, Kenny Smith and Kenny Anderson. It is also the Alma Mater of sportswriter Peter Vecsey, tennis star Vitas Gerulaitis, actor David Caruso, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and comedian Ray Romano.
In 1965, he succeeded Joe Lapchick as head coach at St. John's, getting them into the NCAA Tournament in 3 out of 5 seasons. In 1970, he was named head coach and general manager of the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association. He got them into the 1972 ABA Finals, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers.
In 1973, his successor at St. John's, Frank Mulzoff, resigned after 3 seasons, so Lou returned. His $22,000 salary at St. John's meant that he took a financial loss in the transition. He explained, "I've had my whack at pro ball, and I'm very happy with it. But when the opportunity arose to return to St. John's, I wanted to go back."
It's hard to argue with the results. With St. John's -- their mascot then the "Redmen," a Native American name, changed to "Red Storm" in 1994 -- giving the new Big East Conference the New York market, he won regular-season titles in 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1992; and the Big East Tournament in 1983 and 1986. This was aided by playing "home games" at Madison Square Garden, where the entire Tournament was held over a span of 4 days.
His rivalry with Georgetown University of Washington, D.C., and its head coach, John Thompson, became legend. New York and D.C. have rarely been serious sports rivals -- thought fans of Major League Soccer's Red Bulls and D.C. United might disagree -- but the symbolism was undeniable.
Lou was old school: Although he had black players on his team, including Walter Berry and Mark Jackson, his biggest stars were white: Chris Mullin and Bill Wennington. In contrast, Georgetown, though nearly an all-white school (and also Catholic), had Thompson, who in 1984 became the 1st black head coach to lead a team to the National Championship, and nearly all of his players were black, led by Patrick Ewing, and later Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo.
Thompson became known for draping a white towel over his shoulder, while Carnesecca became known for his wild sweaters. When Christmas season ended, Lou's penchant for "ugly sweaters" didn't. His gravelly voice became familiar far west of the Hudson River.
St. John's and Georgetown played each other 4 times in the 1984-85 season. On January 26, with Georgetown ranked Number 1 in the country and St. John's ranked Number 2, they played before a full house of 19,035 at the Capital Centre in suburban Landover, Maryland, and a nationwide audience on CBS, and St. John's won, 66-65.
On February 27, with St. John's at Number 1 and Georgetown at Number 2, they met again at The Garden, on ESPN. This one did not live up to the hype, as the Hoyas rolled to an 85-69 win. On March 9, with Georgetown at Number 1 and St. John's at Number 2, they met in the Final of the Big East Tournament at The Garden, and, against, Georgetown won definitively, 92-80.
When the NCAA Tournament reached its Final Four, to be held at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky, 3 of the 4 were from the Big East, all but Louisiana State University (LSU) from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In the Semifinal on March 30, Number 1 Georgetown again handily beat then-Number 3 St. John's, 77-59. But in the Final, Georgetown were upset by another Catholic school in the Big East, Philadelphia-area school Villanova.
Having won Coach of the Year awards in 1983 and 1985, Lou retired after the 1992 season. His record at St. John's was 526–200, for a winning percentage of .725. He was quickly elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Louie the Sweater became an elder statesman of college basketball, and still went to as many St. John's games as he could. In 2004, St. John's renamed their 5,602-seat Alumni Hall "Carnesecca Arena." He remains the last coach to get a new York City school into the Final Four, with his 1985 St. John's team. (In the New York Tri-State Area, P.J. Carlesimo got Seton Hall, of South Orange, New Jersey, there in 1989.)
He died yesterday, November 30, 2004, just 36 days short of his 100th Birthday. His death leaves Jim Boeheim of Syracuse, who just turned 80, as the last of the old Big East titans. Rollie Massimino of Villanova in 2017, John Thompson of Georgetown in 2020.
Well, there might be one more, if you want to count him as such: Rick Pitino, who led Providence College of Rhode Island to the Final Four in 1987, is now the head coach at St. John's. He's also led Kentucky to the National Championship in 1996, and Louisville to the National Championship in 2013.
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