With the 2020 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From some game-winning FTs in the 1955 tourney (65th anniversary) through a 17-PT comeback win in the 2015 1st 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We continue our series with Hall of Famer Lou Carnesecca, who is 1 of the greatest coaches to ever put on a sweater. He succeeded at every single level of the sport: 4 Catholic High School Athletic Association title games in 8 years as coach at St. Ann’s Academy/Archbishop Molloy High School, 526 wins and 5 Big East regular season titles at St. John’s, and he even led the New York Nets to the 1972 ABA Finals before losing to Indiana. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Carnesecca about the 50th anniversary of almost winning the 1970 NIT and the 35th anniversary of making the 1985 Final 4. We also wish him a happy belated 95th birthday last month!
You were known for wearing sweaters on the sideline: how did you start that tradition, and what did your players think about it? I had received 2 sweaters as a gift from the Italian women’s national team coach: they were not particularly attractive sweaters so I just put them in my closet. We were going out to play at Pittsburgh: their old fieldhouse was drafty and I had a cold so I grabbed a sweater from my closet. I wore the sweater and we won at the buzzer on a shot by Chris Mullin. Everyone said that I had to keep wearing the sweater because it was a good luck charm, and it was…until we played Georgetown at MSG and lost!
In the 1970 NIT title game as coach at St. John’s, Billy Paultz had 15 PTS/17 REB in a loss to Marquette: how close did you come to winning the title? It was a close game and we had a chance to win but it was not our night. Coach Al McGuire was a fierce competitor who always had his team ready to play. That Marquette team was the last school to decline an invitation to play in the NCAA tournament and play in the NIT instead.
In Game 6 of the 1972 ABA Finals as coach of the New York Nets, Roger Brown scored 32 PTS in a 3-PT win by Indiana: why did you choose to go from college to the pros, and how were you able to be so successful so quickly? I left SJU to try my hand at coaching in the pros. My pride got the better of me because I did not belong: I could never get used to losing so many games. My success in the pros was due to good players, especially Rick Barry: we almost won the ABA title. The next year with all of the same players except Rick, who the court ruled had to return to play for the San Francisco Warriors, we lost 50 games. Any coach needs good players to be successful. Abe Lemons once jokingly asked me at a coaching clinic, “Lou, if you are such a good coach, why can’t you make your 12th man play as well as Mullin?”
In the 1984 NCAA tourney as coach at St. John’s, Mullin missed a 1-and-1 with 8 seconds left before Terence Stansbury made a 25-footer at the buzzer in a 2-PT win by Temple: how on earth did Mullin miss that FT, and where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It was a tough loss and just goes to show that nobody is perfect, even a guy who made 90% of his free throws. That is why you play the entire game. I won some games like this one but lost some others as well. It happens and yes it was a disappointment because we had the game in hand and let it slip away prior to the free throws.
After a 1-PT win over eventual national runner-up Georgetown in January 1985 gave the Redmen the #1 ranking, the Hoyas beat you 3 times over the next 2 months (including a matchup in the Final 4): what was it like to play a team 4 times during a 2-month span? That Georgetown team was a bad match up for us. They were a great team: the best team in the country that year on any given night.
In the 1986 Big East tourney title game Walter Berry scored 16 PTS and blocked tourney MVP Pearl Washington’s shot at the buzzer in a 1-PT win over Syracuse: how big a deal was it to win the conference tourney? Winning a title is always a great accomplishment and this 1 was no exception, especially since it took place in our backyard at MSG (the Mecca of college basketball). We had 2 exceptional plays at the end of the game: Ron Rowan’s shot to put us ahead and Walter Berry’s clean block of Pearl’s shot. Walter anticipated what Pearl was going to do and guessed correctly.
Take me through the 1987 NCAA tourney:
Marco Baldi scored a career-high 11 PTS including a 12-foot jumper with 1 second left in a 2-PT win over Wichita State: where does that rank among the most exciting wins of your career? It was an exciting win. Marco was a good mid-range shooter, although we did not encourage him to take it very often because of the other talent on that team. Every NCAA tournament win was a big win because of the atmosphere, the quality of the team you faced, and the significance of each game.
Mark Jackson scored 23 PTS in an 8-PT OT loss to DePaul: how much of a home-court advantage did the Blue Demons have at the Rosemont Horizon, and how did your team blow a 5-PT lead with 45 seconds left in regulation? It was never easy to play DePaul due to the great talent they had and their home arena was packed with enthusiastic fans. I would say it was 1 of the 10 worst loses we experienced during my coaching career: we had the game in hand but let it slip away.
In the 1989 NIT title game at Madison Square Garden, NIT MVP Jayson Williams had 28 PTS/18 REB in a win over St. Louis: what did it mean to you to win a title at the Garden? When I was growing up the NIT was the definitive national championship so to win an NIT on the MSG court with so much history attached to it was a big deal for me. Jayson had a great game and deserved the recognition he received. He was in my mind the best rebounder that I ever coached: he had a knack for the ball and wanted it more than anyone else.
You were a 2-time national COY: what made you such a great coach, and what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? I appreciated the honors and recognition that I received…but once again, if I did not have the talent to win then none of that would have been possible.
In 1992 you were elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2006 you were elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame: when people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? I want to be remembered as the “Old Coach” because that is all I ever dreamed of being. I was very fortunate/happy being a coach and would have done it for free because I loved the game, the people, and sharing my knowledge.