St. John's to open men's basketball season against Stony Brook
St. John's coach Rick Pitino holds up a jersey after being introduced during a news conference at Madison Square Garden on March 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin) Credit: AP/Corey Sipkin
Rick Pitino suggested that St. John’s would soon regain its long-lost lofty status in college basketball when he was hired in March. The Red Storm hasn’t even played a game but, judging from the non-conference schedule they released on Thursday, they’ve already got the look.
St. John’s is not only playing its toughest slate of non-conference games in years, but it also is playing in all the area’s biggest venues. The Red Storm open the season on Nov. 7 against Stony Brook at Carnesecca Arena and then play only two of their next 10 non-conference opponents on campus.
There are a pair of games at Madison Square Garden — Nov. 13 against Michigan in the annual Gavitt Games and Dec. 30 against Fordham — a contest at UBS Arena against Hofstra on Dec. 30 and a matchup against Boston College on Dec. 10 at Barclays Center in the NABC Brooklyn Showcase.
They have a four road games: three in the Shriners Children’s Classic in Charleston, South Carolina, and one at West Virginia as part of the Big East-Big 12 Challenge. The first game in Charleston is Nov. 16 against 2023 NIT champion North Texas, with the Storm meeting LSU or Dayton the next day. Houston, expected to be among the first 10 in the AP preseason Top 25, is on the other side of the bracket.
Pitino and St. John’s have discarded the formula of playing campus games against weak lesser foes that was championed during Mike Anderson’s run as coach. The Storm played seven non-conference games at Carnesecca Arena last season — the closest an eight-point win over Niagara — as compared with the three this season. And they played at the Garden just four times last season.
St. John’s went 10-1 in non-conference games a year ago. Its true identity and abilities didn’t show through until it lost seven of nine in Big East play between Dec. 21 and Jan. 25.
With the announced schedule to start the season, everyone should get a feel before the heart of the Big East season for what the Storm is and could become.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
