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
  • 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