They were two New York City star high school basketball players in the early 1980s who could have gone to plenty of different nationally-ranked college programs.
But Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson had one goal in common: They wanted to play for St. John’s and head coach Lou Carnesecca.
Asked about the first time he met Carnesecca, Jackson recalled a game he was playing for Bishop Loughlin in Brooklyn.
“I remember Coach sitting there and his presence in the gym,” Jackson said. “It was almost like a spotlight just on him. Any room or gym he walked into, any sideline he captained, there was a bright light. He had something special about him and from that moment on, I wanted to be a member of the St. John’s basketball team.”
Mullin’s history with Carnesecca went back even further, having attended one of Carnesecca’s camps when he was around 10 years old and noted the different sides to his personality.
“I met Coach at his camp and he was more reserved, doing lectures, teaching basketball and telling stories,” said Mullin, who began his high school career at Power Memorial in Manhattan and graduated from Xaverian in Brooklyn. “When he recruited me, again, he was very reserved. My first day of practice, I couldn’t stop laughing. This guy’s running around [and] jumping. [I said] ‘Who is this guy? I didn’t meet this guy.’ He had a unique ability in practice or a game, he got into that mode. Once it was over, he was just a regular guy.”
It was the connection they had with Carnesecca that brought them to St. John’s to play and again Friday, to honor their former coach at St. Thomas More Church after Carnesecca passed away Saturday at 99.
Walter Berry, recruited out of what was then Benjamin Franklin HS in Manhattan and Bill Wennington- who finished his high school career at nearby Long Island Lutheran- were all on hand from the 1985 Final Four team.
The bond lasted the rest of Carnesecca’s life, including during Mullin’s struggles with alcohol early in his NBA career.
“I had my share of challenges and he was always there for me,’’ Mullin said. “When he talked, he was honest and direct, but also with care and love. It’s a unique way to live your life for almost 100 years. He never changed.”
And it was that consistency that led Carnesecca to such great heights at St. John’s according to Mullin.
“Even when he had to be disciplined and serious, he always let you know it was gonna be OK,’’ Mullin said. “As coaches, you always talk about speeches and Xs and Os, but Coach went beyond that because he lived it.
“All you had to do was watch him every day,’’ Mullin said. “He was very fundamental in his coaching and his teachings and very fundamental with the way he lived, but when you do that every day, consistently that’s extraordinary.”
Mullin said Carnesecca always preached the importance of practice.
“When you stick to the fundamentals, you win,’’ Mullin said. “And that’s why he was the ultimate winner.”