Since the 3rd grade recreational basketball league draft, when a young sharpshooter was drafted by St. John’s in the first round. After playing for Duke the previous year, this young child was devastated that the school didn’t want him anymore. So with this New Year and a new team, his love for St. John’s basketball was born, and this little kid happened to be me of course.
For the years, after that season I followed the Johnnies, which was easy to do being from the tri-state area, but what was harder to do, was maintain interest. Their programs tradition is right up there was the Dukes, UNCs, and Kentucky’s, with many tournament appearances, whether it was the big dance, or the NIT, the Johnnies were frequent participants. But post either the; ’99 or ’00 season the programs prestige started to diminish, as they couldn’t hang with the tough Big East Conference, and so they began harder to follow, because I would just assume they were just going to lose. As a little kid this was very demoralizing to see his team falter, which sparked my hatred for Duke University, because I thought “why should I suffer on a yearly basis, when they have all of the success?!”
Before I delve to deep into my feelings for Duke, I must remember this entry is about my beloved Johnnies, not my opinions. So, to the point, this year under the tutelage of coach Steve Lavin, St. John’s has had two big games make headlines, first was their 15 point win over the hated Duke University, and then just this week a 17 point win over number 9 UConn.
This year marks the beginning of their resurgence to the top, and they have just the players to do it with; 10 seniors, 1 lone junior, 4 sophomores, and another lone freshman. Not to mention that they have the second highest rated incoming freshman class, it looks like they will be set for the next few years.
I am proud to say that I have stuck with them through thick and thin, to prove so I want to let everyone reading in on what it was like to be a St. John’s fan last year. I remember these two games clear as day, big game against Georgetown starts out just the way we wanted it too, making almost every shot, creating separation from the Hoyas on the scoreboard. Going into half time the Johnnies were up 20, I’m thinking, “here we go, no way they will let them back in this game.” BOY WAS I EVER WRONG, everything that could go wrong, went wrong, missed multiple easy looks, transition points were few and far between, and the Hoyas could not miss! Obviously they ended up losing, by 7, that is a 27-point swing in just 20 minutes. Now to the next game, practically the same situation as the last game, just a month later, against another ranked team in West Virginia, up 23 now going into the half, same old, same old by the Johnnies easy made baskets, high percentage shots, and the three’s were falling from everywhere. Second half, same as against Georgetown. Huge let down, that ultimately ended up in a loss 79-60. To summarize that it was deflating being a St. John’s fan, especially last year, because they had so much promise it made it even worse
The offseason for St. John’s did not start out the way they wanted it to, with the immediate firing of head coach Norm Roberts. Many felt that he should have been able to finish out with the group of seniors he had taught for their whole careers. But sadly he never got that opportunity. This gave people a lot of doubts about; what looked like a promising season coming up, all of those voices were silenced when coach Steve Lavin was announced as St. John’s head coach. Lavin, who had quite a record at UCLA (145-78), seemed a perfect fit at St. John’s, gritty, gutsy, and young to relate to the kids. He is lucky to have his first season to be with a great group of experienced seniors, but he is the brains behind everything that goes on for St. John’s basketball, and when he signed 6 ESPN top 150 players for next season, people are now beginning to wonder, “what was going on over in Oakdale?” And boy is there ever something going on in Oakdale, but their record of 14-9, 6-5 in the Big East doesn’t really scream top 25 caliber. But in arguably the best conference in college basketball (Big East), a record of 6-5 is not to bad. Especially when stacked up to some of the powerhouses in the conference (UConn, Syracuse, Louisville). I'm not saying they are a great team; yet, they are showing potential to be great down the road. Once the beginning of next year is over (due to the loss of 10 players), and all the freshman get the system, look for St. John’s to make a pretty big splash in the Big East Conference and the NCAA tournament.
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