Carnesecca won a program-best 526 games and he transformed St. John’s basketball into a national powerhouse in his 24 years as head coach
Lou Carnesecca, the legendary St. John’s men’s basketball coach and Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, died on Saturday at the age of 99, according to multiple reports.
Known for his everlasting sense of humor and his signature colorful sweaters, Carnesecca is forever synonymous with St. John’s basketball, the Big East conference, and New York City hoops, coaching over 40 years at the high school, college, and professional levels in his hometown.
Carnesecca turned St. John’s into a national powerhouse and raised the profile for the Big East conference across his 24 years of coaching at his alma mater.
He won 526 career games, a program record that stands to this day, five Big East regular season championships, and two Big East tournament championships. The Johnnies made eighteen NCAA tournament appearances, four Sweet Sixteens, three Elite Eights, and one Final Four in 1985 during Carnesecca’s tenure.
Carnesecca won the National Coach of the Year award in 1983 and 1985 and the Big East Coach of the Year award three times. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Many program legends have played under Lou Carnesecca’s tutelage, including Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Walter Berry, Malik Sealy, and Bill Wennington.
Even in retirement, Carnesecca was a familiar face at St. John’s events and remained close to his alma mater. Ahead of the 2004-05 season, St. John’s officially renamed their on-campus arena Alumni Hall to Carnesecca Arena in honor of their program icon. In 2021, St. John’s dedicated a statue of Lou Carnesecca inside the lobby of the arena bearing his name.
It is impossible to tell the story of St. John’s basketball — or St. John’s University as a whole — without Lou Carnesecca.
Rest in peace, Lou.