Lou Carnesecca

Lou Carnesecca

Sport(s)	Basketball
Biographical details
Born	(1925-01-05) January 5, 1925 New York City, New York
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1965–1970	St. John's
1970–1973	New York Nets (ABA)
1973–1992	St. John's
Head coaching record
Overall	526–200 (college)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
3x Big East Conference Coach of the Year (1983, 1985–1986)
Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 1992 (profile)
College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2006

Luigi P. "Lou" Carnesecca (born January 5, 1925) is a retired American college basketball coach at St. John's University. Carnesecca also coached at the professional level, leading the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association for three seasons. Carnesecca was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.

He coached the St. John's basketball program to 526 wins and 200 losses over 24 seasons (1965–70, 1973–92). The colorful "Looie" (as he was popularly known by fans and by the media) reached the post-season in every season he coached the team, including a Final Four appearance in 1985. He was selected as the National Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1985 by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Carnesecca is widely known for his sense of humor and his signature sweaters. In November 2004, St. John's University officially dedicated and renamed the historic Alumni Hall to Carnesecca Arena.

Carnesecca graduated from St. John's in 1950. He also coached his high school alma mater, St. Ann's (now academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School), where he was succeeded by Jack Curran.

After beginning his coaching career at St. John's in 1965, Carnesecca jumped to the pro level. In the 1970–71, 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, Carnesecca coached the New York Nets of the defunct American Basketball Association (ABA), now the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 1971–72 Nets reached the ABA Finals, where they were defeated by the Indiana Pacers. Carnesecca returned to St. John's in 1973.

Carnesecca was also a longtime announcer for the USA Network's coverage of the yearly NBA drafts of the 1980s.

Head coaching record

College

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
St. John's Redmen (Independent) (1965–1970)
1965–66	St. John's	18–8			NIT First Round
1966–67	St. John's	23–5			NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1967–68	St. John's	19–8			NCAA First Round
1968–69	St. John's	23–6			NCAA Second Round
1969–70	St. John's	21–8			NIT Runner–up
St. John's Redmen (Independent/NJ-NY7/Big East) (1973–1992)
1973–74	St. John's	20–7			NIT First Round
1974–75	St. John's	21–10			NIT Semifinals
1975–76	St. John's	23–6			NCAA First Round
1976–77	St. John's	22–9	3–2	T–3rd	NCAA First Round
1977–78	St. John's	21–7	5–1	T–1st	NCAA First Round
1978–79	St. John's	21–11	3–3	T–3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
1979–80	St. John's	24–5	5–1	T–1st	NCAA Second Round
1980–81	St. John's	17–11	8–6	T–3rd	NIT First Round
1981–82	St. John's	21–9	9–5	3rd	NCAA Second Round
1982–83	St. John's	28–5	12–4	T–1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1983–84	St. John's	18–12	8–8	T–4th	NCAA First Round
1984–85	St. John's	31–4	15–1	1st	NCAA Final Four
1985–86	St. John's	31–5	14–2	T–1st	NCAA Second Round
1986–87	St. John's	21–9	10–6	T–5th	NCAA Second Round
1987–88	St. John's	17–12	8–8	T–5th	NCAA First Round
1988–89	St. John's	20–13	6–10	T–7th	NIT Champions
1989–90	St. John's	24–10	10–6	4th	NCAA Second Round
1990–91	St. John's	23–9	10–6	2nd	NCAA Elite Eight
1991–92	St. John's	19–11	12–6	T–1st	NCAA First Round
St. John's:		526–200 (.725)	138–75 (.648)
Total:		526–200 (.725)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

External links

• Lou Carnesecca at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame