There’s an extra responsibility that comes with coaching the St. John’s men’s basketball team, one rooted in the precedent that Hall of Famer Lou Carnesecca established during his legendary run.
“For St. John’s fans, you’ll always tell stories about Lou because of what he represented. I along with all the other coaches who coached here are caretakers of Lou’s legacy. That’s all we are,” Red Storm coach Rick Pitino said Monday on WFAN following Carnesecca’s death at the age of 99 last week. “We’re caretakers at St. John’s of what Lou built and I’m very proud to be a caretaker of Lou’s legacy.”
Pitino spoke glowingly of Carnesecca, with their decades-long relationship spanning to when the two opposed each other in the Big East in the 1980s.
Over the past two years, the two bonded while Pitino attempts to follow in Carnesecca’s footsteps and guide the program to its first Final Four since Carnesecca did so in 1985.
“Lou epitomized (to St. John’s) what John Wooden was to UCLA … or Mike (Krzyzewski) is to Duke,” Pitino said. “He epitomized all the great things about St. John’s. Humble, hardworking, just cared about the players more than himself. Just a special, special man.“
Pitino and Carnesecca roamed opposing Big East sidelines spanning the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons when Carnesecca neared retirement and Pitino guided Providence.
The younger coach described the St. John’s icon as “very intense,” noting that Carnesecca “hated officials” and would never sit down.
He recalled one game when Providence edged St. John’s at the buzzer — likely the Friars’ 79-78 win on Feb. 14, 1987 at MSG — and how Carnesecca went “ballistic” since he believed one second remained.
Pitino admits Carnesecca was probably right, but he sent his players to the showers to avoid continuing the game.
“Great games, great coach, great person. One of the few people I’ve met in my life in the coaching profession that nobody ever said a bad word about,” Pitino said. “We could write a book with the bad words about me, but with Lou, nobody would ever say a bad word. Kind person, giving person.
“When you beat him, he gave you that one handshake, looked you in the eye and said, ‘Good luck.’ When he beat you, he looked you in the eye and he shook with two hands, he took the other hand and put it on your forearm. He was much happier at that moment.”
The two didn’t have to worry about clock differences once Pitino took the reigns in Jamaica last year, but the old veteran still let his thoughts be known.
Pitino noted how Carnesecca developed a reputation for running practices that lasted three to three-and-a-half hours, yet there was Carnesecca last summer asking him if he believed in water breaks.
Carnesecca also told Pitino that a St. John’s coach should follow tradition and wear long pants, while Pitino prefers donning shorts when the team practices.
“All of New York should toast Lou,” Pitino said. “St. John’s is built on kids that don’t have money …. its hardworking people that need a break in life and we try to lift people out of poverty, that’s the mission of St. John’s, and nobody exemplified what the standards of St. John’s stood for more than Lou Carnesecca.”