Dec. 7, 2012

Bronx, N.Y. - Longtime Fordham Athletic administrator Frank McLaughlin will be honored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and Madison Square Garden as one of five recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards during halftime of the Fordham-St. John's game as part of the MSG Holiday Festival on Dec. 8 at The Garden. The game is the first of a doubleheader with Rutgers and Iona meeting in the second.

McLaughlin will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ECAC along with other former athletic directors Jack Kaiser (St. John's), Rich Petriccione (Iona) and Bob Mulcahy (Rutgers). St. John's coaching legend Lou Carnesecca will also be honored with a Lifetime Coaching Excellence Award. Saturday will mark the first time the awards have been presented.

After 27 years in the role of Director of Athletics at Fordham University, last summer Frank McLaughlin was promoted to Associate Vice President of Student Affairs for Athletic Alumni Relations and External Affairs and Athletic Director Emeritus.

McLaughlin has been at Fordham since taking over as the Athletic Director at his alma mater in 1985. After serving as the athletic director for 13 years, McLaughlin was promoted to Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation in the spring of 1998.

Under McLaughlin's tenure, the Fordham University athletic department experienced numerous changes. Chief among them are improvements to the University's Athletic physical plant and increases to the Fordham coaching, administrative and support staffs for athletics. He also directed the addition of women's soccer and rowing as a varsity sports.

Academically, Fordham annually ranks among the leaders in the number of student-athletes named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and has routinely been among the national leaders in NCAA Academic Progress Rates, ranking 18th in the country in 2011.

A 1969 Fordham graduate and standout basketball student-athlete, McLaughlin captained the Rams during his senior season and was drafted by the New York Knicks. He was an assistant coach at Holy Cross, Fordham and Notre Dame, and was head coach at Harvard from 1977-1985.

McLaughlin will be inducted into the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame in January.

JOHN W. KAISER

Jack Kaiser has been an important part of the St. John's University athletic program for more than 60 years, beginning as a student-athlete and continuing with a 22-year coaching career from 1952 to 1973. Kaiser then went on to become the Director of Athletics from 1973 to 1995 and now serves as the Athletics Director Emeritus.

Following a high school basketball coaching stint while also pursuing a professional baseball career, Kaiser returned to St. John's as an assistant coach for the baseball and basketball teams in 1952. He was an assistant coach in the baseball program and coached St. John's freshman and junior varsity basketball teams to a winning percentage over .800.

Four years later, he began an 18-year Hall of Fame coaching career, with a 366-115 career coaching record, led the program to 11 postseason appearances and three College World Series.

In 1973, Kaiser became Athletic Director at St. John's, a position he held from 1973 to 1995. In his first year in the position, Kaiser became President of the National Invitational Tournament Committee in basketball and held that position until 1988. He remained a member through 1995, and has since worked as a consultant for the preseason and postseason events.

Six years into his tenure as Athletic Director at St. John's, Kaiser was a major influence in the formation of the BIG EAST Conference and several years later was instrumental in the formation of the BIG EAST Baseball Conference.

Kaiser is a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association and Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League Halls of Fame.

COACH LOU CARNESECCA

Lou Carnesecca is a legend in New York and college basketball circles worldwide. He is synonymous with St. John's University Basketball and the ECAC Holiday Festival, having coached at the University for 24 seasons prior to his retirement in 1992.

During those 24 seasons he never failed to qualify for a postseason tournament and compiled a record of 526 wins and 200 losses. Coach Carnesecca directed the team to 20 or more victories in a season on 18 separate occasions.

Carnesecca has coached and won more games in the ECAC Holiday Festival than any other coach. His St. John's teams won eight ECAC Holiday Festival crowns.

The coach was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1992. In 1991, he became only the 30th NCAA Division I coach to reach the 500 career victory mark. In 1988-89, he directed his team to a record fifth NIT title.

Carnesecca was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year three times and chosen Metropolitan Area Coach of the Year six times by the New York Basketball Writers Association. In addition, he has two BIG EAST titles to his credit, winning in the 1983 and 1986 seasons.