New York City basketball lost one of its most iconic and influential figures late Saturday night, as St. John’s head coach Lou Carnesecca passed away at the age of 99.
One of the faces of the Big East’s heyday and still the face of St. John’s basketball, Carnesecca coached the Red Storm for 24 seasons, a tenure that included 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and a magical Final Four run in 1985, and culminated in a statue erected in his honor in 2021.
The St. John’s community - and the college basketball community as a whole - mourned the loss of one of its most beloved people, and Brandon Tierney, who currently calls St. John’s games, called in late Saturday night to Danielle McCartan’s show to pay tribute to one of the most influential figures in his sporting life.
“Everyone knows the stats and all the wins, and how influential he was in the early days of the Big East, and his spirit...but we lost a great one tonight,” BT said “There’s just no way around it. He’s one of those people for me - and you know this is never gonna be the case - but you just thought that he would live forever.
“I gotta let everyone know just what he meant...for me, it was Mattingly, it was Mullin, and it was coach Carnesecca.”
Like a generation of fans in the NYC area, BT grew up revering Carnesecca and the St. John’s teams that dominated MSG in the mid-80s and captivated the city in a way that college basketball never has again, and he made sure the listeners knew how much the Johnnies owned Gotham during Carnesecca’s heyday.
“I look back at that spark, that flame that it became in the mid 80s...every one of us in Brooklyn was rocking the Starter St. John’s jacket,” BT said. “And when we took off the jacket we had the hoodies. When we played CYO games, we’d wear the hoodie in the layup lines. There was a point...where St. John’s was bigger than the Knicks.”
BT, along with John Minko, will be on the call for St. John’s basketball for a season that has now unquestionably become a dedication to Carnesecca’s memory and the impact he had on the university, and he says he will think of Carnesecca every time he signs on for a broadcast, and it will be a tribute to the man who inspired BT’s basketball fandom.
“He was the absolute best,” BT said. “He was the best man. His heart and his spirit was just unmatched. I just want to say to the St. John’s family out there, that I’m gonna carry him with me forever.”