Lou Carnesecca’s legacy will be felt around the St. John’s basketball community forever, but his direct impact will be seen every time this version of the Red Storm takes the court.
It was a year and a half ago and 4-star guard Simeon Wilcher was looking for a home after decommitting from North Carolina. St. John’s was a top contender for the New Jersey product and Wilcher was visiting Queens with his parents.
As the Wilcher’s sat in the film room, Lou Carnesecca entered and that just about sealed the deal.
“He said some incredible things, not only about St. John’s, but about me and what we’re going to do, and Sim’s parents were blown away by that,” Rick Pitino recalled after the Johnnies 88-71 victory over Kansas State on Saturday.
“Sim knew of him, but was blown away that Lou Carnesecca would take the time and talk about St. John’s.”
For Wilcher and his father, Sergio, it was a full circle moment.
Wilcher’s older brother, Malik, is named after Red Storm star Malik Sealy. Simeon said that his father and Carnesecca had “the best conversation” that he’s ever been a part of.
“It had a crazy impact,” Wilcher recalled of the meeting during his recruitment and how much it impacted his decision to commit to St. John’s. “He didn’t lose anything, like one bit. He’s still the slickest guy I’ve ever met.”
Carnesecca talked with the now St. John’s sophomore about games he coached in during his career and various players he recruited.
“I feel like he was there with us today,” Wilcher added. “All the extra energy we had coming into that second half, I feel like that was Coach himself.”
Not only for the team, but for Wilcher it was a second half to remember. He did not attempt a shot in the first half before scoring 11 points after halftime and making 5-of-8 shot attempts.
“His legacy is going to live forever here and just to be a part of that is something that I wanted to do.”