St. John's fans get one last Lou Carnesecca moment as Rick Pitino wears replica of the legend's iconic sweater
St. John's Rick Pitino coaches against Kansas State during the first half at Carnesecca Arena on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. Credit: Brad Penner
The St. John’s community got one more unforgettable Lou Carnesecca basketball moment on Saturday, courtesy of Rick Pitino.
It was right before the Red Storm tipped off against Kansas State in the team’s first game since the legendary coach passed away last weekend at age 99. The St. John’s coach was introduced and strode to his spot in front of the Red Storm bench. Then he slipped off his sport coat to reveal a replica of the chevron sweater that Carnesecca wore for luck at the apex of his coaching career.
The sellout crowd of 5,602 at Carnesecca Arena roared its approval. It was the loudest the building got until St. John’s raced past the Wildcats with an 18-3 second-half run in what became an 88-71 victory.
“I just said to Matt Bernstein, our great equipment guy, ‘I looked online — I had five people look online — and nobody could find that sweater,’ ” Pitino said. “Rightfully so. Lou was a legendary person, legendary coach, but one of the five worst dressers in the history of the game. We couldn’t find that sweater anywhere, so we found the pieces, cut out the pieces and took it to a seamstress from Calvin Klein and she put it together,”
“It [was] perfect,” Simeon Wilcher said. “I feel like there was no other way to go. I didn’t know 100%, but I had a feeling that Coach would pull out the sweater. It’s only right.”
After the handshake line at the game’s conclusion, Pitino took the sweater off and symbolically laid it at center court, never to be worn again.
“It’s going to rest in peace with Lou,” Pitino said. “It’s at halfcourt and it’s staying there. That’s Lou’s.”
“Pretty ugly, but it’s something that obviously meant a lot to Coach Lou and Coach P. wanted to honor him in a special way and it was really cool to see him take off [the jacket],” Zuby Ejiofor said. “And everybody was really, really excited for that as well. It was cool.”
The fans who attended the game were greeted by a scroll of photos and Carnesecca quotes on the video board. They watched a pregame tribute video and cheered after observing a moment of silence to reflect on the program icon. As the final minute of the game ticked off, they chanted “Loo-ie! Loo-ie! Loo-ie!”
Carnesecca’s significance to those who turned out, including former players such as Walter Berry and Frank Alagia, clearly runs deep. It’s there for Pitino, too, who coached against him with Providence in the early years of the Big East.
But one might be surprised by how much of an impact Carnesecca has had on the members of the current team, especially those who returned from last season’s squad.
On Friday, Ejiofor recounted his first meeting with Carnesecca. He was walking across campus with RJ Luis Jr. when Luis spotted Carnesecca sitting on a bench and said, “That’s Coach Lou.” Ejiofor was stunned that Carnesecca knew who they were and called their short conversation “a moment.”
“His death was something we all felt, especially those of us that were here last year,” Ejiofor said after Saturday’s win.
Wilcher first met Carnesecca when he was a highly sought recruit visiting campus with his parents. They met in the Red Storm’s film room, and he too was stunned that the Hall of Famer knew who he was.
“It surprised me because I didn’t even commit here yet,” Wilcher said. “Him and my dad? That was like the best conversation that I’ve ever been able to sit down in. My dad used to watch Coach Carnesecca coach when he was a kid and Walter Berry was his favorite player . . . My older brother [Malik Wilcher] is named after Malik Sealy. They were able to talk about things that went on in the past and it was just great to be there and have that conversation with them.
“His legacy is going to live forever here,” Wilcher added. “To be a part of that is something that I wanted to do.”
Pitino said he was touched by the grief he saw on the faces of Berry, Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson at Friday’s funeral. It further reinforced the importance of Saturday’s game, and he used the example of Carnesecca’s teams to explain a philosophy they’d need.
“St John’s ruled the world on the East Coast in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and it was all for the name on the front,” Pitino said. “And if you guys can start playing for the name on the front, someday the back is going to prosper. But you’ve got to play for St. John’s. And on this day, where all [the] greats have come back [and] on this day when our legendary coach has left us, you’ve got to play for that name on the front.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.