Joe Lapchick
Joe Lapchick (1900-1970)
Teams coached: St. John’s Redmen, New York Knicks
St. John’s record: 334-130 (.720)
Overall record^: 334-130 (.720)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1 (1961)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 0
- NIT Championships: 4 (1943, 1944, 1959, 1965)
- NIT Appearances: 12 (1939, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965)
- Metro NY Regular Season Champion: 6 (1943, 1946, 1947, 1958, 1961, 1962)
Awards:
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted 1966)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
1956-1965 | St. John’s |
1947-1956 | New York Knicks |
1936-1947 | St. John’s |
Joe Lapchick Facts
- Joseph Bohomiel Lapchick
- Born April 12, 1900
- Died August 10, 1970
- Hometown: Yonkers, New York
- Left school in 14 to begin working, later becoming a professional basketball player at 17
- By 19, Lapchick was playing for several different touring teams on the East Coast
- Joined the Original Celtics barnstorming team in 1923; the squad joined the ABL in 1926
- Won four straight ABL titles with the Celtics (1927-30)
- Hired in 1936 as the head basketball coach at St. John’s, leading the Redmen for the next eleven seasons
- Won three Metro NY titles and back-to-back NIT championships in his first tenure at SJU
- Left St. John’s in 1947 to become the head coach of the New York Knicks in the NBA
- Went 326-247 in nine seasons with the team, reaching three straight NBA Finals (1951-53)
- Stepped away from the Knicks towards the end of the 1955-56 season due to stress
- Returned to Queens to be the head coach at St. John’s for a second tenure
- Coached the Redmen for another nine seasons (20 total), finishing with a 334-130 overall record
- Claimed another two NIT titles (1959, 1965) and reached the 1961 NCAA Tournament
- Retired from coaching in 1965, as St. John’s having a mandatory retirement age of 65
- After retirement, he wrote a book 50 Years of Basketball with stories from his playing and coaching days
- Passed away following a heart attack in Monticello, NY, at the age of 70
- Survived by his wife, Bobbie, two sons, Joseph Jr. and Richard and daughter, Barbara
Joe Lapchick Coaching Tree
- Jim Baechtold (Eastern Kentucky)
- Carl Braun (NY Knicks)
- Jerry Bush (Nebraska, Toledo)
- Lou Carnesecca (St. John’s, NY Nets)
- Harry Gallatin (SIU Edwardsville, NY Knicks, STL Hawks, Southern Illinois)
- George Kaftan (LIU Post)
- John Kresse (College of Charleston)
- Fuzzy Levane (NY Knicks, STL/Milwaukee Hawks)
- Kevin Loughery (Heat, Bullets, Bulls, Hawks, Nets, 76ers)
- Al McGuire (Marquette, Belmont Abbey)
- Dick McGuire (NY Knicks, Detroit Pistons)
- Jack McMahon (Condors, Rockets, Royals, Zephyrs)
- Lou Rossini (St. Francis NY, NYU, Columbia)
- Fred Schaus (Purdue, LA Lakers, West Virginia)
- Gene Shue (SD/LA Clippers, Baltimore/Washington Bullets, Philadelphia 76ers)
- Max Zaslofsky (NY Nets)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only