I never understood it. I never quite got how a school located in New York City and belonging to the best conference in the country could struggle for as long as St. John’s has. For much of the past decade plus, St. John’s has been a forgotten program when you think of programs in the Big East. They used to be at the forefront, but the Connecticuts, Syracuses, Villanovas and Georgetowns of the world have become synonymous with the conference, almost rendering St. John’s as a distant memory. But with a solid season so far, have the Johnnies become relevant again?
St. John’s hasn’t made the tournament since 2002 but it’s looking like that streak may come to an end this year. When they hired Steve Lavin this past summer to replace Norm Roberts, I was in favor of the hire but still thought that Lavin would need help to resurrect the proud program. It looks like that is happening so far this season.
The Red Storm are 16 – 9 this year (8 – 5 in the Big East) and it looks like the Steve Lavin project is a success so far. The Johnnies have an impressive resume this year because so far they have beaten #13 Georgetown, #11 Notre Dame, a route over #3 Duke and a very impressive win over#9 UConn.
They first caught national attention when they beat up on Duke on January 30. The Red Storm led by as many as 25 in that game and were up 46 – 25 at halftime. They would go on to win 93 – 78 while shooting nearly 60% from the floor. Duke seniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler had 32 and 20 points respectively, but too bad no one else on the roster showed up that afternoon.
They more or less ran UConn out of the gym as well with the 89 – 72 win, behind Dwight Hardy’s 33 points. St. John’s held UConn to 37% shooting that night as Kemba Walker could only muster 15 points while going 4 of 16 from the field. Both the Duke and UConn wins came at Madison Square Garden for St. John’s, where they traditionally play well.
I think the program has officially turned the corner this year. They have become relevant again and the Big East is better because of it. They have been down for far too long. There is still a long way to go, but the fact that we’re even talking about St. John’s in a positive light is a good start.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
