For the first time in 25 years, St. John’s basketball has won the Big East Tournament!
NEW YORK’S TEAM 🔴⛈️ pic.twitter.com/JFbuE9gPmK
— St. John’s Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) March 16, 2025
General Information
Team: St. John’s
Location: Queens, New York City
Record: 30-4 (18-2)
Head Coach: Rick Pitino (37 seasons, 2nd for St. John’s basketball)
What to know about St. John’s basketball
If you haven’t heard yet, the Johnnies are back! The Red Storm steamrolled through the Big East this season winning both the regular and conference tournament titles. It’s hard to say what was more dominant, their 18-2 record through conference play or how they won all three of their tournament games by at least 16 points.
In just his second season at the helm, Rick Pitino has not only revived this program, he is accomplishing things that this program has only done once this century. The hiring of Rick Pitino is perhaps one of the best hires in either collegiate or professional sports in recent memory. The loyalty that he has built with the Johnnies fanbase in just two years is remarkable and it looks like it can only go up from here.
With a record of 30-4, it’s easier to start by talking about the Red Storm’s loses this season. Two of those losses came in the Bahamas during the Baha Mar Hoops multi-team event in November. One of which was on a controversial buzzer beater in a 2OT game against Baylor and the other was to Georgia. Both Baylor and Georgia are ranked in the top 35 of teams on Kenpom. The only other losses that St. John’s basketball sustained were against Creighton and Villanova on the road which just further highlights how tough it is to win in a hostile Big East environment.
St. John’s basketball enters the NCAA tournament on a heater winning their last 9 games and rising all the way up to #6 in the last AP Poll. During that stretch they beat Creighton twice, Marquette twice, and UConn once. St. John’s went 7-1 overall this season against UConn, Creighton, and Marquette. For a more in-depth look at this St. John’s team, check out our feature article on the Red Storm “St. John’s Basketball Rises From the Ashes”.
.@StJohnsBBall ARE YOUR BIG EAST CHAMPS.
WERE SHINING IN RED AND WHITE FOR REST OF NIGHT pic.twitter.com/m6uogiT9GQ
— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) March 16, 2025
NCAA Tournament Prediction for St. John’s basketball
2 seed with a second weekend exit
St. John’s hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2018-19 and hasn’t won a tournament game since 2014-15. It’s been a while for St. John’s basketball, but they’re back with a vengeance. The Red Storm are in position to make a deep run in the tournament as they await to find out their seeding and region.
The NET rankings have St. John’s at 13, but when you look at their resume it’s hard to differentiate them from some of the best in the country. Only holding 4 losses (all Quad 1) is very impressive at this time of the year, but what’s holding them back is the quality of those wins. The best team that St. John’s basketball beat this season was ranked 25 in the NET meaning we have yet to see the Red Storm play one of the country’s elite teams.
As it currently stands, St. John’s basketball is ranked 13th per Kenpom and have the nation’s best defensive rating. They do an incredible job of smothering their opponents and forcing them to take uncomfortable shots. Players like Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis Jr. who can guard multiple positions create matchup nightmares for any opponent who is going to have just a few days to prepare for the Red Storm.
With that being said, St. John’s basketball has the 68th ranked offense per Kenpom and plays a very physical style of basketball. The physicality is important to note as multiple Big East coaches spoke about how the NCAA Tournament is officiated a bit tighter than what is commonly found in a conference game. If St. John’s gets a bad whistle or has a cold shooting night then they could be in trouble, but those type of hypothetical performances would be more of an outlier than an expectation.
The three stars of RJ Luis Jr., Kadary Richmond, and Zuby Ejiofor are going to be tough to stop for anyone and give St. John’s a real chance to make some noise in the big dance. A trip to the second weekend would cap off an amazing season for the Red Storm, but the phrase “defense wins championships” exists for a reason and it would not be shocking to see Rick Pitino take his team all the way to San Antonio in April.