Lou Carnesecca is a 1992 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and the winningest coach in St. John’s program history, as he coached the Red Storm to 526 wins and 200 losses over 24 seasons (1965–70, 1973–92). The Red Storm averaged 22 wins per year over Carnesecca’s tenure and reached the post-season in every season he coached the team. In 1985, the first season that the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams, Carnesecca guided the “Johnnies” all the way to the Final Four. Led by two-time All-America Chris Mullin, 1986 AP Player of the Year Walter Berry, one-time NBA career assists leader Mark Jackson and three-time NBA champion Bill Wennington, St. John’s navigated its way through the West Region to reach college basketball’s grandest stage.
In all, Carnesecca guided St. John’s to 18 NCAA Tournaments, six National Invitational Tournaments (NIT), and directed the team to 20 or more victories in a season on 18 separate occasions.
Carnesecca was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year three times and Metropolitan Coach of the Year six times by the New York Basketball Writers Association. In addition, Carnesecca was named the Kodak NIT Man of the Year in 1985. St. John’s produced a 112-65 record against tough BIG EAST competition under Carnesecca, tying for three regular-season titles and winning one outright. He was selected as the National Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1985 by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and is the former President of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). Carnesecca also led St. John’s to eight ECAC Holiday Festival crowns at Madison Square Garden, including in 1987 when his Red Storm team defeated eventual national champion University of Kansas, 70-56, to claim the program’s 10th overall Holiday Festival title.