When Coach Carnesecca retired, he was treated pretty well from what I remember, but maybe you didn’t hear the speech that PJ gave at his retirement dinner in 1992 in Manhattan? It was quite the speech from what I recall. Plus, Coach K, Jim B, Bobby Knight, Jim Calhoun, Rollie Massimino and Rick Pitino were all there to honor Coach Carnesecca.
They probably had another retirement dinner for him in Queens, but I didn’t attend that one.
Fair point. I was thinking of that as well.
When I included Carnesecca as evidence on my list of "don't let the door hit you on the way out" ex. St. John coaches, I considered omitting him based on the revered (second only to Mullin?) position/status that Coach Lou now holds in Johnny basketball. Heck, the band plays Kingsmen songs with difficult to decipher lyrics in his honor.
But as you are well aware Michael, coach Lou took a lot of heat from fans in his day for:
1) Consistently loosing in the first and second round of the tournament. Often to teams seeded worse.
2) Playing a down tempo style. Never running or pressing even when behind.
3) Loyally playing upperclassmen at the expense of more talented underclassman. Even when that talent is all-time Nba assist leading talent.
I never attended an event honoring Coach Lou post retirement. The one you described with all the coaching royalty there sounds great.