LOUIE: In Season

The diminutive, mouthy coach of St. John's U.--together with veteran New York Daily News sports columnist Pepe--offers an anecdotal celebration of college basketball, Carnesecca-style. Despite a somewhat slapdash approach (one is never sure what succeeding chapters will bring--a glimpse of a season at St. John's, capsule opinions of fellow coaches, a digression on the author's famous sweater, a paean to Willis Reed), Carnesecca's character comes through in this feisty volume. The St. John's coach pays homage to the influential coaches whose brains he picked (Buck Freeman, Frank McGuire, Dudey Moore, Ben Carnevale, and Joe Lapchick--who, after Camesecca was named Coach of the Year for 1966-67, handed him a card that read: ""Peacock Today, Feather Duster Tomorrow""), and gives his opinions on some of today's other great coaches (Bobby Knight: ""If I had to fight a battle, I'd want Bobby on my side""). Carnesecca vents his disagreements with the NCAA, and seriously suggests that big-time colleges be ab lowed to pay their athletes ("". . .why not subsidize them? We're professionals, aren't we? We charge admissions, don't we? And the pressure is all on the kids""). He also writes about his three-year hiatus coaching the NBA's New York Nets (""The greatest lesson I learned is something I found out about myself. I am basically a teacher, much better suited for the college game than the pro game""). Fast-paced and entertaining reading from an inspired coach and raconteur who claims to ""have had a ball. I would never have made a good doctor and there's just so much salami you can slice.