St. John’s Triumphs in Front of Star-Studded Madison Square Garden Crowd

New York, NY– The sold-out Madison Square Garden exploded when Head Coach Rick Pitino entered the court pre-game wearing his “Drip” white suit for the white-out game. Unfortunately, that same crowd was looking for moments to explode during the game, but the Johnnies gave them none till the game was over and trophies were raised after they took out Seton Hall 71-61.

The Red Storm were led by RJ Luis who had 21 points and 6 rebounds, along with teammate Zuby Ejiofor who added a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Johnnies had several chances to get the crowd behind them in this one and in typical Johnnies fashion they picked the hard road. This team while ranked in the top 10 in the country, they don’t play like a top 10 team. They grind out wins against their opponent regardless of what the experts believe should be easier games. This one St Johns came in a 20-point favorite and at no point did they come close to covering the spread.

The Garden was packed with everyone from college students to retired all-star National Basketball Association (NBA) players John Starks (NY Knicks), and Stephon Marbury (NY Knicks), Major League Baseball (MLB) player John Franco (NY Mets), and then you had the movie/TV stars in the house to witness the historic game.

Seton Hall did all they could to stay close in this one, keeping the crowd out of the game and giving themselves a chance at an upset. The Pirates were led by Dylan Addae-Wusu who had 18 points and 7 assists, while teammate Isaiah Coleman added 15 points and 6 rebounds.

“.. And Rick is a genius on the basketball court. It’s I mean, today was ugly. It was like, come on, can’t just beat these guys. But I’m so happy for the team. I’m happy for our fans. It’s been like forever since we’ve you know, had the kind of success that we’ve had this year. and, you know, I’ve been in New York four years and people now in U Saint. John’s stuff is like, yeah, they’ll Johnny. That’s like, Lou’s looking down on this. and I’m not gonna claim credit from him, but um I think it helps us. what would I mean to the school if you guys go on a March madness run and maybe make a final four or something that. It would mean a ton. It’s eyeballs on the school, it’s pride, it’s donors, it’s our fans and our students are just gonna go crazy about this. Yes. I we’re here playing on a sold out game that we put together on two weeks that doesn’t happen in anywhere else except here. I was say is like at the moment when you get Rick to come over to Saint John’s, our days like this events like this, the kind of thing that you had envisioned for Saint John’. This is an answer to a burr. This is what I hoped when we hard wrecked that we would get back where we are right now, contending for our national championship. This is just the beginning in my book. It’s like, okay, if I were the Contractor everybody for the market and will figure that out, because it doesn’t mean anything. Now let’s win the biggest permit. it’s got a good seed. um and let’s go long and deep. father did Rick said that he wouldn’t have really considered Saint John’s if you weren’t the president, that you being in place here made him really look at Saint John’s. What was it about your relationship with him for s prior that you think brought him in here? I think it was Providence? Both literally and placewise, you know, Rick had been a providence. I I wasn’t there when he was there, uh, but I think I showed at providence we could turn things around, and we’ve turned things around, but it’s been even faster than we did at Providence. did you have to talk him in to say John? Did you have to like really sell it that your vision or I think Rick realized this was the greatest opportunity he was gonna have. I mean, this is a redemption story. And where else could Rick Pitino do what he’s doing, except here in the garden with St. John’s? It’s like, you couldn’t have scripted this. This is like Hollywood in my book, and so for me, um I Rick and Saint John’s were meant to be together. Here, do you remember what went through your mind when you first heard that, oh, maybe the basketball team is thinking about getting Rick Pitino as a coach? Well, I was the first one to think that, okay. So it’s like you looking at the list of like who could be the coach, um, it was obvious that Pitino was by far the best coach that we could have had, and I bet you there are so many schools right now going, why didn’t we hire Pitino before Saint John’s did? Father, did you think it could take two years to get this turned the program turned around? It’s faster than I thought. I thought we’d be in the tournament this year, but not like where we are, right now. So he’s he’s a magician. He’s he’s a genius. it’s really excited.” — Father Brian Stanley St. John’s University President