‘51 Redmen Hit a High and Low

The last time St. John’s was rated No. 1 was in December of 1951. The Redmen played their next game at Kentucky and lost, 81-40. It remains the worst defeat in the school’s history.

The St. John’s coach was Frank McGuire, now director of college basketball at Madison Square Garden.

“That was one of Adolph Rupp’s most talented teams,” McGuire recalled. “They had Cliff Hagan, Frank Ramsey, Lou Tsioropoulos.”

St. John’s avenged the defeat by beating Kentucky, 64-57, in the 1951-52 NCAA tournament but lost to Kansas in the championship game, 80-63. The Jayhawks, coached by Phog Allen, were led by Clyde Lovellette.

That was the closest St. John’s got to an NCAA title, but McGuire won it all five years later at North Carolina. In the process, he got even with Kansas. In the 1956-57 NCAA final, his Tar Heels upset Wilt Chamberlain and the Jayhawks, 54-53, in three overtimes.

Add McGuire: The St. John’s press guide says that Coach Lou Carnesecca played jayvee basketball at the school, but McGuire said: “I don’t remember him ever playing basketball. But he was my second baseman and third-base coach on the baseball team.”

In 1949, St. John’s went to the third round of the College World Series before losing to USC, 12-4.

Of Carnesecca, McGuire said: “We called him Looie the Lunch because his father owned a deli and Looie used to bring sandwiches. We’d get hungry around the seventh inning, and Looie would break out the sandwiches.”

Note: Another member of the baseball team was Mario Cuomo, now the governor of New York. Guess who called to ask for tickets to the St. John’s-Georgetown rematch Feb. 17 at Madison Square Garden?

Add Carnesecca: Asked about a story in Inside Sports that St. John’s players earn from $600 to $1,000 a month, he said: “That’s a lot of garbage.”

Said St. John’s center Bill Wennington: “If that’s so, then somebody owes me a lot of money.”

The Golden State Warriors, who have lost 16 games in a row, could soon exceed the longest losing streak in franchise history.

Says Golden State General Manager Al Attles: “I was on the team that lost 17 straight 20 years ago. So was Wilt Chamberlain. But he was only in on 11 of those games, then got traded. I’ve got to make that clear. I wouldn’t want to upset Wilt.”

Where They Are Now: Former big league pitcher Bill (Spaceman) Lee is working as a carpenter’s apprentice on Cape Cod at Falmouth, Mass. He’s also leading the Yarmouthport entry in the Cape Cod Old-Timers Basketball League in scoring and rebounding.

Ivan Lendl, trying to improve his public image, said he’s finally learning how to deal with the media.

The tennis star told Mark Cannizzaro of the Greenwich Time: “When I came here, I wasn’t used to the fact that somebody’s going to write something bad about me. With the censorship in Czechoslovakia, they’re not allowed to write something bad about you. When you’re a big sports person, they have to write something nice about you because you are a moral for the kids. Until you do something real bad, it never comes out.”

Quotebook

Golden State General Manager Al Attles, on the prospect of getting the No. 1 draft choice this year: “We’re not giving up our No. 1 pick. That’s written in granite. Of course, it’s possible to dynamite granite.”