Luigi P. Carnesecca (January 5, 1925 – November 30, 2024) was an American men's college basketball coach at St. John's University.

Carnesecca also coached at the professional level, leading the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association (ABA) for three seasons.

The colorful "Looie" (as he was popularly known by fans and by the media) reached the post-season in every season he coached the team, including a Final Four appearance in 1985.

[2] In November 2004, St. John's University officially dedicated and renamed the historic Alumni Hall to Carnesecca Arena.

The 1971–72 Nets finished third in the regular season but reached the ABA Finals, where they were defeated by the Indiana Pacers in six games.

Despite the loss of Rick Barry and a 30–53 record, the Nets edged out the Memphis Tams for fourth place and the final playoff berth in the Eastern Division in 1972–73.

But the lifestyle in the pros – the travel, the number of games, working with players who want to be told they’re the best thing money could buy – that wasn’t for me.

College was a better fit for me.” [6] Wanting to go back to St. John's, Carnesecca announced his return on March 27, 1973.

In the next three years in the "New Jersey-New York 7 Conference", the team finished near the top of play, and they won the 1978 ECAC Metro tournament.

In 1979, the team joined the Big East Conference, where Carnesecca would coach for the rest of his career.

They would stay that way for multiple weeks before suffering a loss to #2 Georgetown in February, but they finished the regular season 25–2.

They were given a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament and made the most of it, defeating four straight opponents, which included a victory over NC State by a score of 69–60 to achieve their first Final Four since 1952.

On April 12, he announced he would retire at the end of the season, stating "It's going to be very difficult to put the ball down, but the time has come.

Reportedly, he had wanted to retire two years earlier but had been convinced to stay by university president Rev.