Carnevale, "Ben" (Bernard L.)
Basketball
b. Oct. 30, 1915, Raritan, NJ
d. March 25, 2008
After playing for Howard Cann at New York University, where he captained the team in 1937-38, Carnevale had a brief professional career with the New Jersey Reds and then entered coaching at Cranford, NJ, High School. His teams there won 75 games and three state championships in three years.
Carnevale served as a gunnery officer in the Navy during World War II. His ship was torpedoed off the coast of Africa and he spent five and a half days on a liferaft before being rescued. He was awarded the Purple Heart and discharged from the Navy in 1944.
He then became basketball coach at the University of North Carolina. The school began its rise to national prominence in his second season, 1945-46, winning 29 of 34 games. The Tarheels reached the championship game of the NCAA tournament, losing 43-40 to Oklahoma A & M.
Carnevale went on to the U. S. Naval Academy, where he compiled a record of 257 wins and 158 losses over a 20-year period. His Navy teams played in five NCAA and two National Invitation Tournaments.
Carnevale left Navy in 1967 to become athletic director at NYU. He held the same position at William and Mary from 1973 until retiring in 1981. He then helped organize the Colonial Athletic Association and became its first commissioner.
He served on the United States Olympic Basketball Committee for 20 years and was the committee chairman from 1964 to 1968.