The Tablet . Sports | Diocese of Brooklyn

When it comes to basketball at St. John’s University, the celebration is going to last the entire season.

A season that got underway last Wednesday night when the Red Storm opened its 30-game schedule with a home victory over St. Francis College, its oldest rival, at Carnesecca Arena.

As a result, St. John’s now holds a huge 62-12 advantage in the series with the Franciscan Brothers’ school in Brooklyn Heights.

Enough for the present season. Now to return to the 100 years of competition that got underway on the road Dec. 6, 1907, with a 34-13 loss to NYU.

Father John Chestnut, C.M., was the coach for just that season and his final record was 4-8.

The fourth game was a 23-12 triumph over St. Francis, which gives you an idea about when the rivalry was established.

In that initial season that saw all action on the road, believe it or not, St. John’s played five games against high schools.

The first, on Jan. 14, 1908, was a 25-11 defeat at the hands of Erasmus Hall.
There was a two-game series with Heffley Institute, the first being a 20-18 win and the second a 35-21 defeat which closed out the schedule.

P. Joseph Kersey took over the coaching duties for the following season and opened with a 42-36 decision over New York Training School.

Going back to the initial season, Manhattan College swept a home-and-home series, 34-17 and 46-29.

Kersey actually coached St. John’s to a four-game win streak – 21-19 over Niagara; 28-19 over Manhattan; 35-15 over Seton Hall and 37-31 in overtime against Tufts.
Here’s one for you. It took place in the 1926-27 season against the alumni in December. The alumni walked off the court because of a disputed call and forfeited the game.

TWO GIANTS: Coach Joe Lapchick, top, and all-American Chris Mullin, above, are two of the big names that will be invoked many times this season as St. John’s University celebrates its 100th season of intercollegiate basketball.

That was the final of nine seasons over a 10-season span of coaching for John Crenny.

Enter James (Buck) Freeman, one of the most outstanding coaches ever to sit on a bench.

Buck produced an 18-4 record in 1927-28, and followed with 23-2; 23-1 (lone loss, 31-21, to Providence, snapped a 12-game win streak); 22-4; 23-4; 16-3; 13-8 and 18-4.

Enter Joe Lapchick, for the first of his two tenures on the school’s sidelines.

Frank McGuire began his four seasons with the Redmen in 1947-8 and went 12-11. That was followed by 24-5; 26-5 and 25-6.

Once he departed for North Carolina, Dusty DeStefano, our very good friend, took over until Lapchick returned in 1956-57 and stayed for seven seasons.

Little Looie had two tenures – 1965-70 and 1973-92 – and is now in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, with a 526-200 record for 22 seasons.

Lou broke in with a 64-62 overtime road triumph at Georgetown in a game that we covered while with the now-defunct Long Island Press.

St. John’s entered this season with 1,659 victories, making it the seventh winningest team in college history.

The now-nicknamed Red Storm have appeared in the NCAA Tournament 26 seasons, No. 13 on the all-time list.

As for the National Invitation Tournament, oldest of all post-season classics, St. John’s has the most appearances overall, 27; reached the semi-finals, 15 years and finished on top six times while producing six MVPs.

Since Alumni Hall (now Carnesecca Arena) opened for the 1961-62 season, the Red Storm have a 394-72 record for a .845 mark.

In the Big East Conference, Little Looie produced the school’s first titlist in the 1982-83 season.

Chris Mullin, regarded by many as the best player ever in St. John’s history, tallied 24 points. in the 85-77 championship game against Boston College.

That same campaign saw Carnesecca named Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association.

Mullin shared in the accolades, earning Big East Player of the Year honors to go with the Frank Haggerty Award from the Met Writers as Player of the Year locally.

For Mullin, the Player of the Year honor was his third in the Big East. Another SJU player, Walter Berry, was honored in 1986.

Other Big East honorees were David Russell as Rookie of the Year for 1979-80 and Mark Jackson as Defensive Player of the Year in 1986-87.

Twenty-one different St. John’s players have received the Haggerty Award. Mullin was honored in 1982-83, ’83-84 and ’84-85.

The first SJU player to collect that particular trophy was Dutch Garfinkel for 1940-41.

Nationally, Mullin, for the 1984-85 season, was picked as the Associated Press and United Press International Player of the Year.

St. John’s own Hall of Fame has inducted 37 basketball coaches and/or players.

Space prevents listing all of them, but Andrew (Fuzzy) Lavane; Hy Gotkin; Garfinkel: Kevin Loughery; Frank Alagia; John (Taps) Gallagher, who went on to coach Niagara University, and Ron Rutledge were among them.

Before running out of space, we must point out that St. John’s produced 59 players who were National Basketball Association draftees; 43 who finished their college careers with 1,000 or more points and 60 who were all-Big East honorees.

Academics also played a role in St. John’s success on the court. Proof positive is Frank Gilroy who received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in 1981.

Prayer also has been a big part of SJU’s program as evidenced by last Saturday’s Memorial Mass for all deceased players and coaches at St. Thomas More Church on the campus.

The Royal Blue team, at left, captured the title in the playoffs in the St. Patrick’s Soccer League in Bay Ridge, defeating Forest Green 3-1 in the finals. At right, Anna DeZenzo (Visitation Academy) plays defense as Michael Habib (St. Patrick’s) dribbles toward the goal.