St. John's Red Storm men's basketball

St. John's Red Storm
2021–22 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team
University	St. John's University
All-time record	1,887–1,056 (.641)
Head coach	Mike Anderson (3rd season)
Conference	Big East
Location	New York City, New York
Arena	Carnesecca Arena, Madison Square Garden (Capacity: 5,602, 19,812)
Nickname	Red Storm, Red Men, Johnnies
Colors	Red and white[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
Pre-tournament Premo-Porretta Champions
1911
Pre-tournament Helms Champions
1911
NCAA Tournament Runner-up
1952
NCAA Tournament Final Four
1952, 1985
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
1951, 1952, 1979, 1985, 1991, 1999
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1951, 1952, 1967, 1969, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1991, 1999
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1951, 1952, 1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2011, 2015, 2019
Conference tournament champions
1983, 1986, 2000
Conference regular season champions
1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1992

The St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team represents the St. John's University in Queens, New York. The team participates in the Big East Conference. As of the end of the 2019–20 season, St. John's rank ninth with 1,871 total wins among the NCAA Division I teams. St. John's is coached by Mike Anderson.

History[]

Early years (1907–1927)[]

The St. John's men's basketball team played its first game on December 6, 1907, losing to New York University and registering its first win in program history against Adelphi University on January 3, 1908. Just three years later, the 1910–11 St. John's basketball team went on to have an undefeated 14–0 season coached by former track and field Olympian Claude Allen, for which the team was later honored by the Helms Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll as national champions.

Buck Freeman era (1927–1936)[]

The Wonder Five[]

Twenty years later, former St.John's player James "Buck" Freeman was hired as the coach of the basketball team and in his first four years from 1927 to 1931 had a historic 85–8 record. The 1929–30 and 1930–31 teams were known^{[by whom?]} as the "Wonder Five", made up of Matty Begovich, Mac Kinsbrunner, Max Posnack, Allie Schuckman, and Jack "Rip" Gerson, who together helped revolutionize the game of basketball and made St. John's the marquee team in New York City.^{[according to whom?]} On January 19, 1931, the Wonder Five team was a part of the first college basketball triple-header at Madison Square Garden in a charity game which saw St. John's beat CCNY by a score 17–9. Freeman finished his coaching career with a record of 177–31 for an .850 winning percentage.

First Joe Lapchick era (1936–1947)[]

Joe Lapchick, a former player of the Original Celtics, took over as coach at St. John's in 1936 and he continued the success the school had become used to under Buck Freeman. Lapchick coached the St. John's University men's basketball team from 1936 to 1947 and again from 1956 to 1965. His Redmen teams won 4 NIT championships (1943, 1944, 1959, 1965). Lapchick preferred to take his teams to the more prestigious NIT instead of the NCAA Tournament making the NIT semifinals 8 out of a total 12 times, and only one NCAA tournament appearance in his 20 years of coaching the Redmen. Under Lapchick's coaching his teams also won 6 Metropolitan New York Conference regular season titles.

Back-to-back NIT Champions[]

On its way to its first of back-to-back NIT titles, St. John's would go on to have a record of 21–3 with only two losses occurring during the regular season. One was a 40–46 home loss to rival Niagara and another was a 38–42 loss at Madison Square Garden to Manhattan. The 1942–43 St. John's team were led by senior caption Andrew "Fuzzy" Levane and sophomore All-American center Harry Boykoff. The Redmen's trademark defense and inside scoring presence of Boykoff led them past Rice, Fordham, and Toledo to claim what would be the first of six NIT titles. The season did not end after the NIT, in just three days later St. John's would go on to participate in the first Red Cross charity benefit game against NCAA champion Wyoming to determine a true national champion. Wyoming though would go on to win 52–47.

St. John's became the first team to repeat as champions in the seven-year history of the NIT even though World War II and the players' commitment to serve in the armed forces made it a very difficult season. Harry Boykoff would miss the entire 1943–44 and 1944–45 seasons due to being drafted for the war effort, along with the team's star point guard Dick McGuire for half the 1943–44 season and the entire following two years. Despite the losses of their star players, the St. John's team managed to finish the season with an 18–5 record and a second NIT crown by defeating Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats and Ray Meyer's DePaul Blue Demons. The Redmen were led by play making junior guards Hy Gotkin and Bill Kotsores, the latter of which was selected as the 1944 NIT MVP. For the second year in a row the Redmen participated in the Red Cross benefit game where they faced the NCAA champion Utah where they ended up losing 36–44. The 1951 1952 team lost to Kentucky 81–40 in December 1951. In the NCAA tournament, St John's beat Kentucky, 64–57. They later finished second in the tournament to Kansas.

St. John's success continued the following year where they produced another 21–3 record, but their chance at a rematch with George Mikan's DePaul squad and a third consecutive NIT title was shattered with an upset loss to Bowling Green in the semifinals. They would go on to beat Rhode Island State for a third-place finish. The next two years Lapchick's Redmen teams made the NIT both times and added two more Metropolitan New York Conference regular season titles before Lapchick left to take the head coaching job of the New York Knickerbockers in just the second year of their existence in the new Basketball Association of America, becoming the highest paid coach of the league at the time.

Frank McGuire era (1947–1952)[]

Lapchick was succeeded by Frank McGuire, a former player under Buck Freeman, who made the postseason four out of five years as the coach and had an overall record of 102–36 culminating in a second-place finish in the 1952 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Under McGuire, the Redmen reached an overall number one ranking in the AP poll twice, won three Metropolitan New York Conference regular season titles, competed in four NITs and made their first appearance in the NCAA tournament where they made it to the Elite Eight before falling to eventual national champion Kentucky. They would go on though to defeat North Carolina State for a regional third-place finish.

At the end of the season, coach Frank McGuire left St. John's to become the basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. On paper, this was a significant step down from St. John's, as UNC was not reckoned as a national power at the time. However, school officials wanted a big-name coach to counter the rise of rival North Carolina State under Everett Case. McGuire's assistant coach, Al "Dusty" DeStefano, took over the head coaching duties of the St. John's team from 1952 to 1956. DeStefano's teams only made one postseason appearance and it was 58–46 loss to the Seton Hall Pirates in the NIT Finals who were led by All-American center Walter Dukes. The following year featured the Redmen ending up with their first losing season in over 30 years.

Second Joe Lapchick era (1956–1965)[]

After one month from leaving his position with the New York Knicks, Lapchick resumed his head coaching duties where he originally started and put St. John's back on its winning path. Picking up right where he left off adding two more NIT championships, making the postseason 6 out of 9 times, and having an overall college coaching record of 334–130. In 20 years of coaching in the college ranks, Lapchick only had one losing season.

1959 & 1965 NIT Champions[]

St. John's finished the 1958–59 season with an overall 20–6 record and captured its first ECAC Holiday Festival title with a 90–79 victory over St. Joseph's in the final and the school's third NIT championship by defeating top-seeded Bradley 76–70 in double overtime. The starting five for the Redmen consisted of four seniors and sophomore sensation Tony Jackson who was named both the Holiday Festival and NIT MVP during the 1958–59 season setting a school record of 27 rebounds in one game. At the end of the season senior captain Alan Seiden was rewarded with second team All-American honors and the Haggerty Award, given to the best collegiate player in the New York metropolitan area. Throughout the next three years, St. John's would go 58–18 led by Jackson who would receive All-American honors all three years at school, 6'11" center and future NBA champion LeRoy Ellis, and future ABA/NBA coaching legend Kevin Loughery. In the 1961–62 season, St. John's would make their fifth NIT finals appearance before falling to Dayton 73–67.\7

Lapchick went into the 1964–65 season knowing it would be his last year coaching at St. John's because he reached the mandatory retirement age of the university. It would become a memorable season for the sixty-five year old coach in which his team began the year off by upsetting Cazzie Russell's Michigan Wolverines, the No. 1 team in the nation according to both the AP and UPI polls, by a score of 75–74 to capture the school's second ECAC Holiday Festival title. St. John's would finish the season 21–8 and go on a remarkable run in the 1965 NIT by defeating Boston College, New Mexico, Army, and top-seeded Villanova to win Lapchick his fourth NIT championship. The Redmen were led by the rebounding of sophomore forward Lloyd "Sonny" Dove and the scoring of senior Ken McIntyre who totaled 101 points in his last four games, over 1,000 points for his entire career, and being named the MVP of both the Holiday Festival and NIT.

Lou Carnesecca era (1965–1992)[]

Lou Carnesecca was hired as the head basketball coach at St. John's in 1965, after serving as an assistant at St. John's since 1958, given the difficult task to follow in the footsteps of the legendary Joe Lapchick. In the 1985 NCAA Tournament, he coached the Redmen to their second Final Four appearance. He was named the National Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1985 and Big East Coach of the Year on three occasions. His record at St. John's was 526–200. Coach Carnesecca would win the school's record fifth NIT title in 1989 and as well as making the Elite Eight in 1979 and 1991, and the Sweet Sixteen in 1967, 1969, 1983. Coach Carnesecca would temporarily leave St. John's to coach in the ABA from 1970 to 1973, and would leave the team to be coached by assistant and former player Frank Mulzoff who gathered a record of 56–27 and three postseasons before Carnesecca's return and help guide the program to 29 consecutive postseason tournament appearances and transition to playing in a major conference, the Big East.

1983 Big East Champions[]

1985 NCAA Final Four[]

1986 Big East Champions[]

Recent years (1992–present)[]

2000 Big East Champions[]

2003 NIT Champions[]

2010–11 Senior team[]

2011–12 Fresh Five team[]

Postseason[]

NCAA Tournament results[]

The Red Storm have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 30 times. Their combined record is 27–32. Due to impermissible benefits to a player, their 2002 appearance has been vacated by the NCAA making their official record 27–31.

1952 NCAA Tournament Results

Round	Opponent	Score
Sweet Sixteen	NC State	64–57
Elite Eight	#1 Kentucky	78–76
Final Four	#2 Illinois	61–59
National Championship	#8 Kansas	63–80

1985 NCAA Tournament Results

Round	Opponent	Score
Round of 64	Southern	83–59
Round of 32	Arkansas	68–65
Sweet Sixteen	Kentucky	86–70
Elite Eight	#16 NC State	69–60
Final Four	#1 Georgetown	59–77

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1951		Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Regional 3rd Place Game	Connecticut Kentucky NC State	W 63–52 L 43–59 W 71–59
1952		Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game	NC State Kentucky Illinois Kansas	W 60–49 W 64–57 W 61–59 L 63–80
1961		First Round	Wake Forest	L 74–97
1967		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Temple Boston College Princeton	W 57–53 L 62–63 L 58–78
1968		First Round	Davidson	L 70–79
1969		First Round Sweet Sixteen Regional 3rd Place Game	Princeton Davidson Duquesne	W 72–63 L 69–79 L 72–75
1973		First Round	Penn	L 61–62
1976		First Round	Indiana	L 70–90
1977		First Round	Utah	L 68–72
1978		First Round	Louisville	L 68–76
1979	#10	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#7 Temple #2 Duke #6 Rutgers #9 Penn	W 75–70 W 80–78 W 67–65 L 62–64
1980	#3	Second Round	#6 Purdue	L 72–87
1982	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 Penn #4 Alabama	W 66–56 L 68–69
1983	#1	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#9 Rutgers #4 Georgia	W 66–55 L 67–70
1984	#9	First Round	#8 Temple	L 63–65
1985	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#16 Southern #9 Arkansas #12 Kentucky #3 NC State #1 Georgetown	W 83–59 W 68–65 W 86–70 W 69–60 L 59–77
1986	#1	First Round Second Round	#16 Montana State #8 Auburn	W 83–74 L 65–81
1987	#6	First Round Second Round	#11 Wichita State #3 DePaul	W 57–55 L 75–83 OT
1988	#11	First Round	#6 Florida	L 59–62
1990	#6	First Round Second Round	#11 Temple #3 Duke	W 81–65 L 72–76
1991	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#13 Northern Illinois #5 Texas #1 Ohio State #2 Duke	W 75–68 W 84–76 W 91–74 L 61–78
1992	#7	First Round	#10 Tulane	L 57–61
1993	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 Texas Tech #4 Arkansas	W 85–67 L 74–80
1998	#7	First Round	#10 Detroit	L 64–66
1999	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#14 Samford #6 Indiana #2 Maryland #4 Ohio State	W 69–43 W 86–61 W 76–62 L 74–77
2000	#2	First Round Second Round	#15 Northern Arizona #10 Gonzaga	W 61–56 L 76–82
2002*	#9	First Round	#8 Wisconsin	L 70–80
2011	#6	Second Round	#11 Gonzaga	L 71–86
2015	#9	Second Round	#8 San Diego State	L 64–76
2019	#11	First Four	#11 Arizona State	L 65–74

* Vacated by the NCAA

NIT results[]

The Red Storm have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) 30 times. Their combined record is 45–30. They are six-time NIT Champions (1943, 1944, 1959, 1965, 1989, 2003). Due to impermissible benefits to a player, their 2003 appearance (and title) has been vacated by the NCAA making their official record 40–30.

Coaching history[]

*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

		Overall		Conference
Coach	Years	Record	Winning %	Record	Winning %
J. Chestnut	1907–08	4–8	.333
P. Joseph Kersey	1908–09	9–6	.600
Harry A. Fisher	1909–10	15–5	.750
Claude Allen	1910–11, 1912–14	33–19	.635
Joseph O'Shea	1911–12, 1914–17	43–27	.614
John Crenny	1918–21, 1922–27	105–86	.550
Ed Kelleher	1921–22	10–11	.476
James Freeman	1927–36	177–31	.851
Joe Lapchick	1936–47, 1956–65	334–130	.720
Frank McGuire	1947–52	102–36	.739
Al DeStefano	1952–56	49–39	.563
Lou Carnesecca	1965–70, 1973–92	526–200	.725	139–80	.635
Frank Mulzoff	1970–73	56–27	.675
Brian Mahoney	1992–96	56–58	.491	29–43	.403
Fran Fraschilla	1996–98	35–24	.593	21–15	.583
Mike Jarvis	1998–2003	66–60	.524	57–36	.613
Kevin Clark	2003–04	2–17	.105	1–15	.064
Norm Roberts	2004–10	81–101	.445	32–70	.313
Steve Lavin	2010–2015	81–53	.604	40–30	.571
Mike Dunlap	2011–2012	11–17	.392	6–12	.400
Chris Mullin	2015–2019	59–73	.447	20–52	.278
Mike Anderson	2019–	20–15	.571	5–13	.278

St. John's Rivalries[]

St. John's program records[]

Notable players and coaches[]

Lou Carnesecca HC 1965–70 1973–92

Mark Jackson 13 1983–87

Chris Mullin 20 1981–85

Malik Sealy 21 1988–92

Walter Berry 21 1984–86

Dick McGuire 21 1943–49

Tony Jackson 24 1958–61

Alan Seiden 33 1956–59

Sonny Dove 55 1964–67

Joe Lapchick HC 1936–47 1956–65

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Members[]

The following St. John's players, coaches, and contributors have been enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Year Inducted	Name	Position	Years at St. John's	Enshrined as
1959, 1966	Joe Lapchick	Head Coach	1936-1947, 1956-1965	Player, Coach
1977	Frank McGuire	Player, Head Coach	1947-1952	Coach
1992	Lou Carnesecca	Head Coach	1965-1970, 1973-1992	Coach
1992	Al McGuire	Player	1947-1951	Coach
1993	Dick McGuire	Player	1943-1944, 1946-1949	Player
2010, 2011	Chris Mullin	Player, Head Coach	1981-1985, 2015–2019	Player (2)
2014	Mitch Richmond	Assistant Coach	2015–2019	Player

Players in the NBA since 1985[]

Red Storm in the NBA

Total Selections in Draft:	60
Lottery Picks in Draft:	3
1st Round Picks:	16
No. 1 Overall Picks:	0

Draft Year	Round	Pick[2]	Overall	Name	Draft Team	All-Star Selections	NBA Championships	Olympic Selections	Pro Seasons
2019	–	–	–	Shamorie Ponds	Undrafted	0	0	0	2019–2020 (1)
2015	2	23	53	Sir'Dominic Pointer	Cleveland Cavaliers	0	0	0	2019–2020 (1)
2014	–	–	–	JaKarr Sampson	Undrafted	0	0	0	2014–present (6)
2012	1	15	15	Maurice Harkless	Philadelphia 76ers	0	0	0	2012–present (9)
2011	–	–	–	D.J. Kennedy	Undrafted	0	0	0	2011–2012 (1)
2001	2	3	31	Omar Cook	Orlando Magic	0	0	0	2004–2005 (2)
2000	2	10	39	Lavor Postell	New York Knicks	0	0	0	2000–2003 (3)
2000	1	28	28	Erick Barkley	Portland Trail Blazers	0	0	0	2000–2002 (2)
1999	1	16	16	Ron Artest	Chicago Bulls	1 (2004)	1 (2010)	0	1999–2017(19)
1998	–	–	–	Zendon Hamilton	Undrafted	0	0	0	2000–2006 (6)
1998	1	24	24	Felipe Lopez	San Antonio Spurs	0	0	0	1998–2002 (4)
1996	–	–	–	Rowan Barrett	Undrafted	0	0	1 (2000, 7th Place)	– (0)
1995	–	–	–	James Scott	Undrafted	0	0	0	1996–1997 (1)
1994	2	16	43	Shawnelle Scott	Portland Trail Blazers	0	0	0	1996–2002 (4)
1992	2	19	46	Robert Werdann	Denver Nuggets	0	0	0	1992–1997 (3)
1992	1	14	14	Malik Sealy	Indiana Pacers	0	0	0	1992–2000 (8)
1990	1	21	21	Jayson Williams	Phoenix Suns	1 (1998)	0	0	1990–1999 (9)
1988	2	2	27	Shelton Jones	San Antonio Spurs	0	0	0	1988–1989 (1)
1987	3	23	69		Los Angeles Lakers	0	0	0	–
1987	1	18	18	Mark Jackson	New York Knicks	1 (1989)	0	0	1987–2004 (18)
1986	3	20	67	Ron Rowan	Philadelphia 76ers	0	0	0	1986–1987 (1)
1986	1	14	14	Walter Berry	Portland Trail Blazers	0	0	0	1986–1989 (3)
1985	1	16	16	Bill Wennington	Dallas Mavericks	0	3 (1996-1998)	1 (1984, 4th Place)	1985–2000 (13)
1985	1	7	7	Chris Mullin	Golden State Warriors	5 (1989-1993)	0	2 (1984 , 1992)	1985–2001 (16)
Bold Active players   First round pick

Players in International Basketball[]

Red Storm Overseas

Total Players Overseas:
Current Players Overseas:	15

Draft Year	Last Country	Last League	Player	Current Team	All-League Selections	League Championships	Pro Seasons
2020		BBL	Mustapha Heron	Leicester Riders	0	0	2020–present (1)
2019		EuroMillions	Marvin Clark II	Kangoeroes Mechelen	0	0	2019–present (2)
2019		NBL	Justin Simon	Illawarra Hawks	0	0	2019–present (2)
2018		LBA	Amar Alibegović	Virtus Bologna	0	2 (2019, 2021)	2018–present (3)
2016		ProA	Ron Mvouika	Bayer Giants Leverkusen	0	0	2016–2019 (3)
2016		LEB Oro	Felix Balamou	CB Clavijo	0	0	2017–2018 (1)
2016		LNA	Durand Johnson	Union Neuchâtel Basket	0	0	2016-2017 (1)
2015		Ligat HaAl	D'Angelo Harrison	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	0	0	2015–present (6)
2015		NBA G League	Sir'Dominic Pointer	Canton Charge	0	0	2015–present (6)
2015		EBL	Phil Greene IV	Arka Gdynia	0	0	2015–present (6)
2015		NBL Canada	Jamal Branch	Cape Breton Highlanders	0	0	2015-2018 (4)
2014		B.League	Orlando Sánchez	Shinshu Brave Warriors	0	0	2014–present (7)
2014		NBA	JaKarr Sampson	Indiana Pacers	1	0	2014–present (8)
2011		PBA	Justin Brownlee	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	0	3 (2016, 2017, 2018)	2011-present (10)
2011		BSL	Dwight Hardy	Bahçeşehir Koleji S.K.	2 (2012, 2016)	0	2011–present (10)
2011		BSL	D.J. Kennedy	Karşıyaka Basket	4 (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018)	1 (2019)	2011–present (10)
2011		Morocco-D1	Paris Horne	Chabab Rif Al Hoceima	0	0	2011–present (10)
2011		GBL	Sean Evans	Ifaistos Limnou B.C.	0	1 (2018)	2011–present (10)
2011		B.League	Justin Burrell	Nagoya Diamond Dolphins	1 (2012)	0	2011-present (10)
2009		D-League	Anthony Mason Jr.	Sioux Falls Skyforce	0	0	2010-2014 (4)
2008		GBL	Eugene Lawrence	Ionikos Nikaias B.C.	1 (2011)	5 (2009, 2012, 2017-2019)	2008-present (13)
2007		Independent	Daryll Hill	Harlem Globetrotters	1 (2008)	0	2007-2010 (3)
2007		B.League	Lamont Hamilton	Niigata Albirex BB	1 (2013)	0	2007-present (14)
2003		BBL	Marcus Hatten	Mitteldeutscher BC	0	1 (2017)	2003-2018 (15)
2003		TNA	Anthony Glover	9 de Julio de Río Tercero	0	0	2003-2015 (12)
2001		Liga ACB	Omar Cook	CB Gran Canaria	4 (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)	3 (2006, 2015, 2016)	2001-present (20)
2000		LNB Pro A	Bootsy Thornton	Strasbourg IG	1 (2008)	5 (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012)	2000-2014 (14)
1999		Greek A1	Tyrone Grant	Ilysiakos B.C.	0	0	2000-2011 (11)
1997		USL	Charles Minlend	BC Cherkaski Mavpy	2003 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP	0	1997-2008 (11)
1996		LNB Pro A	Rowan Barrett	Élan Chalon	4 (2001, 2002, 2004, 2005)	1 (2001)	1997-2008 (11)
Bold Active players

Awards and honors[]

McDonald's High School All-Americans[]

• Wayne McKoy – 1977
• Chris Mullin – 1981
• Bill Wennington – 1981
• Shelton Jones – 1984
• Michael Porter – 1985
• Malik Sealy – 1988
• Robert Werdann – 1988
• Felipe Lopez – 1994
• Zendon Hamilton – 1994
• Ron Artest – 1997
• Erick Barkley – 1998
• Omar Cook – 2000
• Darius Miles – 2000
• Elijah Ingram – 2002

Facilities[]

St. John's at Home

Home Courts	Record	Win Pct
DeGray Gymnasium	103–65	.934
Carnesecca Arena	490–101	.829
Madison Square Garden	434–303	.589
Barclays Center	6–2	.750

* record stands after the 2019–20 season

DeGray Gymnasium (1932–1956)[]

DeGray Gymnasium was the original home of the St. John's Redmen when the university was located at 75 Lewis Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, NY. Their career record at DeGray Gym is 156 wins to 11 losses for a winning percentage of .934. St. John's played their last home game in the gym on December 8, 1956 with a victory of Roanoke College 103-65. When the university was transitioning from Brooklyn to Queens, the basketball team split their home games between the old Madison Square Garden and Martin Van Buren High School for five seasons.

Carnesecca Arena (1961–present)[]

In 1961, home games were moved to the 5,602-seat Alumni Hall on the newly constructed Queens campus opening with a 79-65 win over George Washington University. On November 23, 2004 the building and court were renamed for Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca.

Madison Square Garden (1931–present)[]

On January 19, 1931, St. John's was a part of the first college basketball triple-header at the third Madison Square Garden on 8th Avenue and 50th Street in a charity game which saw St. John's beat CCNY by a score 17–9. St. John's has played at least one game in the arena every year since then, for a record 89 consecutive seasons, for both regular season home games, preseason and postseason tournaments including the Big East, NIT, and Holiday Festival.

Taffner Field House[]

The current training facility of the St. John's basketball team is Taffner Field House located on the Queens campus adjacent to Carnesecca Arena. In the Fall of 2005, the $16 million facility was completed with a majority of the donations coming from longtime St. John's fan, graduate, and benefactor Donald and Eleanor Taffner for which the building is named. The field house features four full size basketball courts, two for student life and two varsity basketball, in addition to a weight room, training room, locker rooms, meeting rooms, and coaching offices for both men's and women's basketball.

Key Statistics[]

Overall
Years of basketball	110
First season	1907–08
Head coaches (all-time)	20
All Games
All-time record	1,817–999 (.645)
Home record	463–83 (.848)
20+ win seasons	40
30+ win seasons	2
Conference Games
Conference Record	694–491 (.586)
Conference Regular Season Championships	14
Conference Tournament Championships	3
NCAA Tournament
NCAA Appearances	29
NCAA Tournament wins	27
Sweet Sixteens	9
Elite Eights	5
Final Fours	2
Championship Games	1
Championships	0
Accurate as of 3/22/2017. Please don't update until end of season.

Victories over AP Number 1 Teams

St. John's has five victories over the AP number one ranked team.

• Jan. 11, 1951: No. 11 St. John's (NY) 68 vs. No. 1 Bradley 59 @ Madison Square Garden
• Mar. 22, 1952: No. 10 St. John's (NY) 64 vs. No. 1 Kentucky 57 @ Reynolds Coliseum
• Jan. 2, 1965: NR St. John's (NY) 75 vs. No. 1 Michigan 74 @ Madison Square Garden
• Dec. 30, 1978: NR St. John's (NY) 69 vs. No. 1 Duke 66 @ Madison Square Garden
• Jan. 26, 1985: No. 2 St. John's (NY) 66 vs. No. 1 Georgetown 65 @ Capital Centre
• Feb. 7, 2018: NR St. John's (NY) 79 vs. No. 1 Villanova 75 @ Wells Fargo Center

References[]

External links[]

• Official Website