St. John's NCAA Tournament history, from Lou Carnesecca to Rick Pitino
Left: Lou Carnesecca celebrates winning the Big East Tournament in 1983. Right: Rick Pitino coaches St. John's to the Big East regular-season title in 2025.
It took just two seasons for Rick Pitino to live up to "St. John's will be back" promises when he was hired to coach the Red Storm men's basketball team.
What were they coming back to?
Well, national prominence. It was 40 years ago when the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams, and St. John's reached the Final Four. That 1984-85 team coached by Lou Carnesecca, who had guided St. John's to March Madness in eight of the previous nine seasons, remains the most talked-about team in the program.
Here's a look at how St. John's has performed in the NCAA Tournament over the past 40 years.
1985: Final Four
Year of the Big East
The Big East put three teams in the Final Four in 1985, with St. John's, led by Chris Mullin, facing top-seeded Georgetown, led by Patrick Ewing. Georgetown won the national semifinal, 77-59, then lost to Villanova in the championship.
Chris Mullin after defeating N.C. State in the regional final. Credit: AP/Jack Smith.
1986: Second round
St. John's earned a No. 1 seed and beat No. 16 Montana State in the first round, 83-74, before losing to No. 8 Auburn, 81-65.
Walter, the AP Player of the Year in 1986, total 51 points and 20 rebounds in the two games. Credit: AP/Lennox McLendon.
1987: Second round
As the No. 6 seed, St. John's took out No. 11 Wichita State, 57-55, when Marco Baldi took a pass from Mark Jackson and hit a short jumper with one second left. The Johnnies would go on to lose in the second round to No. 3 DePaul in overtime, 83-75.
1988: First round
One and done as 11th-seeded St. John's fell to sixth-seeded Florida, 62-59.
1989
1990: Second round
St. John's earned the No. 6 seed, beat Temple in the opening round and then lost to national runner-up Duke in the second round.
Malik Sealy led three St. John's in double figures with 19 vs. Duke. Credit: AP/Dave Martin.
1991: Elite Eight
Malik Sealy, Shawnelle Scott and Billy Singleton led St. John's to the No. 4 seed in what would be Lou Carnesecca's last deep run in the NCAA Tournament. The Johnnies beat No. 13 Northern Illinois, No. 5 Texas and then No. 1 Ohio State to reach the Elite Eight and a rematch with No. 2 Duke. The Blue Devils won, 78-61, en route to the national title.
1992: First round
Looie's last dance
The last of Lou Carnesecca's 726 games over 24 seasons as St. John's head coach was a 61-57 loss to No. 10 Tulane in the first round. Carnesecca finished his career 526-200 for a .725 winning percentage, which as of 2025 ranks him 37th in NCAA history among coaches with at least 10 seasons.
Lou Carnesecca died on Nov. 30, 2024, at age 99. Credit: Mark Lennihan.
1993: Second round
Assistant Brian Mahoney took over for Carnesecca as head coach and led St. John's to a 19-11 record and a No. 5 seed. After an 85-67 win over No. 12 Texas Tech in the first round, St. John's lost to No. 4 Arkansas, 80-74.
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998: First round
Seniors Felipe Lopez, Zendon Hamilton and Tarik Turner and freshman Ron Artest led the Red Storm back to the NCAA Tournament after four seasons on the outside, the program's longest in three decades. But the seventh-seeded Storm lost in the first round to No. 10 Detroit, 66-64, as Lopez's three-point attempt fell short in the final seconds.
Felipe Lopez ranks fourth on the St. John's all-time scoring list with 1,927 points. Credit: Getty Images
1999: Elite Eight
Mike Jarvis took over for Fran Fraschilla and earned a No. 3 seed behind Artest, Lavor Postell, Erick Barkley, Bootsy Thornton and Anthony Glover. St. John's rolled over No. 14 Samford and No. 6 Indiana in the opening rounds, then beat No. 2 Maryland by 14 points. In the Elite Eight, though, the Red Storm fell to Ohio State, 77-74.
Ron Artest struggled against Ohio State with five turnovers and just nine points. Credit: AP/Mark Lennihan.
2000: Second round
Artest was in the NBA now, but Barkley, Postell, Thornton and Glover led St. John's to a No. 2 seed. But No. 10 Gonzaga pulled off the upset in the second round.
Lavor Postell and Bootsy Thornton accounted for 39% of St. John's points in the NCAA Tournament. Credit: Newsday/Paul J. Bereswell.
2001
2002: First round
St. John's earned the No. 9 seed and lost in the first round to No. 8 Wisconsin, 80-70. Marcus Hatten scored 28 for the Storm.
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011: Second round
Steve Lavin guided the Red Storm to two NCAA Tournaments in his five seasons as coach. Credit: Getty Images/Doug Pensinger.
This was the first year the NCAA went to a field of 68, with the "First Four" games being considered first-round games. So, while St. John's technically was in the second round, the sixth-seeded Storm played one game, losing to No. 11 Gonzaga.
2012
2013
2014
2015: Second round
This was the final tournament where "First Four" games were considered the first round. St. John's drew the No. 9 seed and lost to No. 8 San Diego State.
2016
2017
2018
2019: First Four
Chris Mullin, in his fourth and final season as head coach, brought his alma mater back to the NCAA Tournament. Shamorie Ponds and L.J. Figueroa helped St. John's to 21-13 overall record and a First Four game for the No. 11 seed, losing to Arizona State, 74-65.
Mustapha Heron scored six points for the Storm against Arizona State. Credit: AP/John Minchillo.
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025: Big East regular-season champions . . .
. . . for the first time since 1985. And they're still going, as the Red Storm will be the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament when play begins on March 12. St. John's earned a bye into the quarterfinals on March 13. Selection Sunday three days later will tell us which seed, region and city St. John's will play to begin the NCAA Tournament.
In Rick Pitino's second season as coach, St. John's won the Big East regular-season title outright for the first time since the 1984-85 season. Credit: Brad Penner.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.