Photo courtesy of Dave’s Joint
By David Cordova
From the moment that 2024-25 season began, there was plenty of optimism on the roster of the St. John’s Red Storm that was assembled. The coaches knew that the team was going to be special and so did the fans and supporters of the program, but the rest of the country didn’t know just how well they would do.
Fast-forward to the present day. The season has been over for almost two months, but the city is buzzing again for the first time in more than 20 years. When you’re from New York City, you know that expectations are high for all of the teams, including the college teams on the Division I level.
But if you know about St. John’s, you know they’re not just any kind of regular college program, but one that is revered by many enthusiasts and fans of the game. From coaches such as Joe Lapchick to Lou Carnesecca to the current head coach, Rick Pitino, and then players such as Chris Mullin, Mark Jackson, Malik Sealy and many more, it’s a special, sacred tradition.
This year, the games at both Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden were electric, something that was dreamt about for a long time. When tickets are high-priced or sold out, you know that there are good times going on. Celebrities like rapper Jadakiss, film director Spike Lee, former New York Mets pitcher and St. John’s graduate John Franco, New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone and even former New York Giants stars like Victor Cruz and Carl Banks all came out this season to check out the action.
The Red Storm went 31-5 on the season and were rated as high as No. 6 in the Associated Press national poll late in the regular season, and would win the Big East regular-season championship and the Big East Tournament championship.
Leading the charge on the sideline was none other than Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Rick Pitino, who is a true legend of the game, as he has had plenty of success on the college level at Providence College, the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Iona University prior to taking the St. John’s job.
On the professional level, he coached in the NBA with the New York Knicks from 1987-89 and with the Boston Celtics from 1997 to 2001 and also overseas as the head coach of Panathinaikos in the Greek Basket League in Greece from 2018 to 2020.
Wherever he went, he had success and it showed this season. The previous season, the Red Storm had a 20-13 overall record and finished 11-9 in the Big East. With him at the helm, everybody knew that change would come. With his passion for the game, it is imperative that playing tough is a must and that his players give nothing less than their best ever time they step out on the court.
Prior to Pitino taking over, there has been plenty of coaches that have come through the door since the retirement of the legendary Lou Carnesecca in 1992. Throughout the last 33 years, there were plenty of great moments, but there were only eight NCAA tournament appearances, including one Elite Eight appearance in 1998-99 and one Big East Tournament championship in 1999-2000.
In this regime, a lot of opportunities are possible to get to back to where the program was back in the day. There is great coaching, but also plenty of talent.
This year’s roster had plenty of talent from positions one to five, with players such as guards Deivon Smith, Kadary Richmond & R.J. Luis, Jr., the reigning Big East Player of the Year and the Haggerty Award winner, as well as the forwards such as Ruby Ejiofor and Aaron Scott.
Other contributors also included players such as guard Simeon Wilcher and forwards Vincent Iwuchukwu, Sadiku Ibine Ayo and Ruben Pray.
With that group of players in the rotation, they ran roughshod over the Big East Conference and competed against non-conference teams in plenty of games. Against nationally-ranked teams, the Red Storm went 3-1, with the lone loss coming in a close game to Baylor, then ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press national poll, on Nov. 21st in the Bahamas Championship.
After winning the Big East championship in convincing fashion, they went on to compete in the NCAA Tournament, and did something that they hadn’t done in a long time, win a first-round game, which they did against Omaha, 83-53, in the East Regional in Providence.
The next game would be the toughest task, as they played their second-round game against none other than Arkansas, one of the most dangerous teams in the SEC. Despite the toughness of the Red Storm, the Razorbacks were more dominant on this day, especially in the low-post area.
And just like that, the magic had officially run out for the Johnnies, as they were ousted, 75-66. Although it was a very tough ending to a very prosperous season, they made plenty of noise throughout the season and made the city proud, giving the fan base something to talk about, and something to be excited about.
A lot of moments were captured on the TV series, “Pitino: Red Storm Rising,” on Vice TV, as it told the story about the highs and lows of the 2024-25 season and the team’s journey.
It also showed how the team’s success resulted in more donations to the programs name, image and likeness (NIL) movement, as supporters like VitaminWater CEO Mike Repole, who is a graduate of St. John’s, rallied around the program and worked closely with Matt Abdelmassih, the former assistant coach and now-general manager of the Red Storm.
Next season is already around the corner, and most of the players from this past season have now departed, with Luis going to the NBA Draft, and Richmond, Smith and Scott graduating, and several players hitting the transfer portal.
The Red Storm hit the transfer portal, with additions such as guards Ian Jackson (North Carolina), Joson Sanon (Arizona State), Oziyah Sellers (Stanford) and Dylan Darling (Idaho State) and also forwards such as Bryce Hopkins (Providence), Dillon Mitchell (Cincinnati) and Handje Tamba (Milligan College).
There were also three freshmen added to the fold such as forwards Imran Suljanovic and Kelvin Odih and guard Casper Pohto.
Of all the additions, one of the most exciting of note will be Jackson, a native of The Bronx who is a graduate of Our Saviour Lutheran High School and was a 2024 McDonald’s All-American selection. He is the type of player that embodies New York City culture, as he has a large following, and like Pitino and assistant coaches such as Garfield “Ricky” Johns and Taliek Brown, have roots in the city and know what it means to be a homegrown talent playing in the World’s Most Famous Arena.
From last year’s team, Ejiofor and Ibine Ayo will be returning, as well as guard Lefteris Liotopoulos.
Now, the question is this: Will the Red Storm expand on the momentum that they had last year? Another question: What can we expect from the new group?
The answer to the latter question. We must wait and see, but in truth, it will definitely be an exciting season.
Games have already been scheduled, as they will be opening up at Carnesecca Arena on Nov. 3rd against Quinnipiac, and will also be playing three games at Madison Square Garden during the non-conference portion of the season against opponents such as Alabama (Nov. 8th), Ole Miss (Dec. 6th) and Iona (Dec. 13th).
The Red Storm will also be playing in the second annual Player’s Era Festival in Las Vegas around Thanksgiving Week and will also be playing against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 20th in Atlanta.
As far as apparel goes, the Red Storm will be switching their allegiance from Nike to Adidas, as of July 1st, as reported this week by Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
It’s safe to say, that for the St. John’s Red Storm, there’s nowhere to go but up. Next year will definitely be another season in which the boys from Queens excel. The sky is the limit for St. John’s.
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