NEW YORK -- Lou Carnesecca, whose teams reached postseason
play in each of his 24 seasons at St. John's, was honored Tuesday
night when a banner bearing his name and victory total was raised
to the ceiling of Madison Square Garden.
|  | | Lou Carnesecca looks over a banner denoting his 526 wins as St. John's coach before it was raised to the ceiling of Madison Square Garden. |
He became the 13th person to be so honored by the Garden, the
second coach and the first from college basketball.
The banner, in St. John's colors of red and white, had the
number 526 between his name and the school's.
The 76-year-old Carnesecca's first game as a coach was in the
old Madison Square Garden when he led St. Ann's Academy to a
victory. His first college game in the Garden was in his first
season at St. John's, 1965-66, a loss to Villanova.
Surrounded by his family, former players and former assistant
coaches at halftime of the St. John's-Connecticut game, Carnesecca
raised the banner to the roof along with former New York Knicks
captain Willis Reed, who has been honored the same way. Carnesecca,
who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992, gave
Reed his first coaching position as an assistant at St. John's.
"There's no doubt in my mind that the guys who deserve all the
credit are the guys who played for me," Carnesecca said. "What
can you say about this place? There have been so many great teams
and so many great games. This is the greatest arena in the world
and it's in the greatest city in the world."
The only other coach to be honored with a banner at the Garden
is Red Holzman, who led the Knicks to two NBA titles. His banner
also has his victory total, 613.
The 15-minute ceremony featured a video tribute from former St.
John's players Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson and an in-person
salute from Bill Wennington. All three played for Carnesecca on his
only Final Four team in 1985.
Among those in the crowd was former President Bill Clinton.
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