It’s no coincidence that St. John’s basketball is having its best season in 40 years now that Rick Pitino is in his second season with the team. The college hoops legend has experienced success at every program he’s coached, and his run with the No. 2 Red Storm (30-4, 18-2 Big East) is no exception.
Boston was 10-15 in 1977-78, the season before Pitino arrived. The Terriers then went 17-9 with the UMass alum at the helm in ’78-79 and 21-9 the year after that. They eventually reached the Final Four in ’87.
Providence was 11-20 in 1984-85 without Pitino. The Friars then went 17-14 with him in ’85-86 and 25-9 the season after.
Kentucky was 13-19 without Pitino in ’88-89. The Wildcats then went 14-14 with him the next season and 22-6 the year after that. They then won the National Championship in 1996.
Louisville went 12-19 without Pitino in 2000-01. The Cardinals then went 19-13 the following season and 25-7 the year after that, eventually winning the NCAA Tournament in 2013.
Iona went 12-17 without Pitino in 2019-20, then 12-6 with him the year after and 25-8 the year after that.
Finally, St. John’s went 18-15 in 2022-23 before going 20-13 with Pitino last season, leading up to its magical run this year.
The New York native’s two titles both came several seasons into his tenures with those schools, but the Johnnies are particularly convincing this year. They ran through the Big East Tournament easily, winning all three of their games by at least 16 points and trouncing No. 9 Creighton 82-66 in the final, who just upset No. 8 Louisville 89-75 in the Round of 64.
More importantly, St. John’s ranks second nationally in defensive efficiency behind only No. 1 Houston, via teamrankings.com. Senior guard Kadary Richmond (2.1 steals per game) and junior forward Zuby Ejiofor (1.4 blocks) anchor the team on that end of the floor, while junior guard RJ Luis Jr. leads with 18.4 points a night.
Luis is the Johnnies’ only major scoring threat, which is why they rank just 107th in offensive efficiency, via teamrankings.com. However, they’ll have enough favorable matchups in the West region to give them momentum heading into the Elite Eight and beyond.
St. John’s basketball will win with lockdown defense
The Red Storm can guard anybody, but they likely won’t face any defense even close to as good as theirs in the West region, either. No. 4 Maryland ranks sixth in defensive efficiency, but the Terrapins would have to get through No. 13 Grand Canyon in the first round, No. 5 Memphis/No.12 Colorado State in the second, and possibly No. 1 Florida in the Sweet Sixteen before facing St. John’s in the Elite Eight.
Meanwhile, No. 15 Omaha, who the Johnnies will face on Thursday night, ranks just 277th. For the second round, No. 7 Kansas ranks 28th while No. 10 Arkansas ranks 60th. No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 6 Missouri, the two highest seeds it could face in the Sweet Sixteen, rank 50th and 164th, respectively.
Then there’s the Elite Eight. No. 1 Florida, who are SEC champions and one of the nation’s hottest teams, ranks 20th in defensive efficiency. This presents the trickiest matchup on paper for St. John’s, as the Gators (30-4, 14-4 SEC) are the most likely team to shut down Luis and company.
With that being said, Pitino’s experience can make up for disadvantages on paper, both tactically and emotionally. March Madness is also famously upset-heavy.
Those factors can lift the Johnnies over Florida and through the rest of the tournament, which would give them their first-ever title. Their only appearance in the National Championship was in 1952 when they lost 80-63 to Kansas.
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