In case it wasn’t clear how important Lou Carnesecca was to St. John’s basketball and the New York basketball scene as a whole, all you had to do was look at the tribute that adorned the marquee at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
However, for longtime St. John’s assistant coach Brian Mahoney, who succeeded Carnesecca as the head coach, the lasting memory he’ll carry of Carnesecca, who died at the age of 99 on Saturday, will be his impact on the people around him. In a conversation with The Post, Mahoney recalled the times that Carnesecca would be approached on the street and make time to talk with anyone willing.
“We always said, ‘You could run for mayor,’ ” Mahoney said.
But what really left a lasting impact on the former St. John’s coach was the extra mile that Carnesecca would go for players, even the ones who never wore a St. John’s uniform.
St. John’s had a lot of success recruiting some of the top talent in New York and landed plenty of those players — including the likes of Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson. But even the ones who wound up going to another school still knew they had an ally in Carnesecca if they needed one.
“I can remember kids that would go away and then after their four years at another school would come back to Lou and say, ‘Hey, coach, can you help me?’ ” Mahoney, Carnesecca’s assistant from 1973-78 and 1981-92, said. “ ‘I’m trying to get to Europe, I’d love to play in Spain or Italy. And I know you have great contacts.’ Lou really was so gracious, and he would make those calls to try to help these players that never even played for us.
“That’s the type of person that he was. He always had time for everybody.”
Carnesecca coached at St. John’s for 24 seasons, finishing with winning campaigns in each of those years, from 1965-70 and 1973-92 when he returned to the program after a stint in the ABA with the Nets. He led the Johnnies to 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and the 1985 Final Four.
St. John’s won an NIT title in 1989 under his direction, but his lasting impact stems from the person he was.
“We lost an iconic St. John’s man. His coaching expertise was as good as anyone in basketball, but the man he was surpassed that. Rest in peace, Looie. We will miss you so much,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said in a statement released by the team.
“From the time I first met him more than 20 years ago, he had this incredible ability to make everyone feel important and made everyone feel like a someone,” athletic director Edward Kull said in a statement. “He always made time, whether you were a former All-American or a fan on the street who wanted to introduce your son or daughter to ‘Looie.’ He embodied everything that is great about this University, this city and the sport of basketball.
“There will never be another like him and we are all better for having known him.”
Carnesecca came from humble beginnings, having grown up in East Harlem and later graduating from St. John’s in 1950.
Aside from Mullin and Jackson, the list of players who went through his program and went on to play in the NBA or ABA includes Jayson Williams, Bill Wennington, Billy Paultz, George Johnson and Walter Berry.
And when it came to attracting top talent from the area, Mahoney credited the person Carnesecca was for that.
“He always believed in the kids from the city because he was a city kid himself,” Mahoney said. “St. John’s being the city school and had that tradition and he wanted to carry it on from [Joe] Lapchick and, of course, the great success he had. And Lou just wanted to follow up and continue along those lines.”
