St. John’s basketball season ends after not receiving NIT berth
The St. John’s basketball season has officially come to an end.
A St. John’s basketball season which had so much hype in the preseason came to an embarrassing end on Sunday night after the Red Storm were not selected to the NIT.
The Johnnies knew it had to win the Big East Tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament this week and things looked promising as St. John’s was up by 17 points in the second half against eventual champion Villanova in the quarterfinals before things came crashing down.
Many within the program expected to qualify for the NIT after its crushing finish at Madison Square Garden.
The program returned two All-Big East players, Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander, and was picked to finish 4th in the Big East Preseason Coaches Poll.
St. John’s was the No. 7 seed in the Big East Tournament and ends its season with no postseason berth to speak of.
It will be the third straight missed postseason for the Red Storm, all under head coach Mike Anderson.
To be fair, the postseason was canceled in 2020 and the Johnnies declined an NIT bid in 2021 due to health and safety protocols.
Not playing in the postseason for three straight years is the longest streak of Anderson’s career.
Villanova, Providence, UConn, Creighton, Seton Hall and Marquette made the NCAA Tournament while Xavier was the only team from the Big East to earn a bid to the NIT.
St. John’s, DePaul, Butler, and Georgetown are the only teams from the conference not participating in any postseason event.
St. John’s basketball must embark on another critical offseason
Each offseason surrounding the St. John’s program is always interesting but perhaps no offseason will be bigger than this one.
There have been multiple rumors that link Mike Anderson to the head coaching vacancy at Tulsa.
Anderson is an alum of Tulsa and played at the school for two seasons seasons before beginning his coaching career there as an assistant.
The 62-year old has never had a losing season in his tenure as a head coach and was named as the 2021 Big East Coach of the Year.
St. John’s and Mike Anderson agreed on a contract extension through the 2026-27 season in May.
Anderson is 50-40 in his three seasons with the Red Storm and 23-33 in the Big East.
Regardless if the rumors surrounding the St. John’s head coach are true, the roster certainly will look different next year in the era of the transfer portal in college basketball and the likelihood that Julian Champagnie forgoes his senior season for the NBA Draft.
The offseason has officially begun in Queens. Buckle up.