The St. John’s Red Storm won their first Big East Tournament title in 25 years, setting sights on a deep NCAA Tournament run. After years of success with schools like Kentucky and Louisville, Coach Rick Pitino is ready to return the Red Storm to national prevalence.
The No. 2 seed team will kick off their March Madness run with a matchup against No. 15 seed Nebraska-Omaha in Providence, R.I., Thursday night.
Redemption Tour Continues for Rick Pitino, Red Storm
Two historical relics relegated to the scrap heap, Rick Pitino and St. John’s have formed a beautiful relationship that has New York City buzzing going into the NCAA Tournament.
In a season that saw the loss of school legend Louie Carnesecca just weeks ahead of his 100th birthday, Pitino has the Red Storm poised to reach the heights of his legendary mid-1980s teams.
First, it was the Big East regular season title—the first for St. John’s in 40 years. Then, an impressive run through the conference tournament, where the Red Storm were a buzzsaw, chewing up three opponents by an average of 17 points, including an 82-66 dismantling of Creighton in the championship game.
Now, the school has its first NCAA Tournament berth since a brief foray into the First Four in 2019.
Pitino has now led a record six schools to the “Big Dance,” including Boston University, Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, and Iona. But for the 72-year-old New York native, this twilight run may be the sweetest.
Rick Pitino is the absolute best… “I saved the best for last” pic.twitter.com/NFdMVQIcAc
— The Jump Sports (@TheJumpSports) March 16, 2025
His face seemed to say so when he spoke to a sold-out Madison Square Garden following the conference tournament championship game victory.
“I saved the best for last,” Pitino proclaimed to 19,812 buzzing through the world’s most famous arena.
For the Hall of Famer, St. John’s has been the perfect pairing.
“Great win for the city. Great win for our university. You hear it all along that it’s New York’s team, and it truly is,” Pitino told the AP. “As a New Yorker myself, I’m very, very proud that St. John’s has gotten to this level.”
St. John’s has won nine straight and 19 of 20 and heads into the NCAA Tournament with a 30-4 record.
This is the third time in school history that the team has won at least 30 games and the first time since Carnesecca led his squads to back-to-back 31-win seasons in 1985 and 1986. The 1985 team, which featured city legend Chris Mullin, was also the last St. John’s contingent to reach the Final Four.
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St. John’s turnaround occurred in Pitino’s second year at the helm, and it’s guided by a trio of standout performances, led by R.J. Luis Jr., the Big East Player of the Year who scored 29 points and had 10 rebounds in the title game win over Creighton.
Zuby Ejiofor, who hails from Garland, Texas, had 20 points in the championship game, and his 14.6 points trails only Luis Jr.’s 18.4 on the team. Kadary Richmond, the local boy, a Brooklyn native, had 12 points and 12 rebounds against Creighton and is averaging 12.7 and 6.4 on the season.
The Red Storm’s opponent Thursday evening, the 15th-seeded Mavericks, are making their NCAA Tournament debut.
Led by Summit League Player of the Year Marquel Sutton (19.1 ppg, 8 rpg), Omaha won both the league’s regular season and conference tournament crowns. Sutton had 22 points and 18 rebounds in an 85-75 championship game win over St. Thomas, Minn.
JJ White, who’s averaging 13.7 points on the season, had 29 points game in the title contest. The talented duo will be hard-pressed to match that production against the Red Storm in Providence, one of Pitino’s former stomping grounds.
St. John’s went 12-0 at Madison Square Garden, its most wins in that hallowed arena since the 1958-59 season. If Pitino is to cut the nets down with his third school, following three national championships combined between Kentucky and Louisville, the Red Storm will need to travel more than 1,800 miles to the Alamodome in San Antonio.
Pitino will make sure to bring as much New York with him as possible.
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