Looking back on the 2024-25 St. John’s men’s basketball season

The Johnnies’ journey shifted from preseason hope, familiar doubt, unfamiliar promise, and cathartic celebration

It was the spring of 2024. Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith, Vince Iwuchukwu, and Aaron Scott had signed on with the Johnnies. Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis, Simeon Wilcher, Brady Dunlap, and Sadiku Ibine Ayo were returning for the upcoming season. Four freshmen were signed up. It looked like a formidable crew capable of breaking St. John’s’ long-lasting tournament win drought.

Richmond and Ejiofor were elected captains by the team. As the season wore on, those two were perfect choices. The enthusiastic leadership of Ejiofor emerged as the season progressed, while Richmond provided steady veteran experience.

Hope

The team opened by winning its first four games, including a convincing 85-71 victory over eventual tournament team New Mexico, coached by Richard Pitino, the son of the St. John’s head coach.

But Zuby Ejiofor’s season was off to a sluggish start, only averaging 8.5 points and 4.7 rebounds over his first four games. Fans hoped the team would feature transfer Vince Iwuchukwu at center and move Ejiofor to power forward or temporarily play Ejiofor off the bench as a reset.

Then, a heartbreaking 99-98 double-overtime defeat at the hands of Baylor in the Baha Mar Bahamas Championship Tournament put the first blemish on the team’s record. It was a disputed defeat due to a timekeeper error, with Ejiofor missing two foul shots with seconds to go that could have iced the game. Disappointed, Ejiofor was in tears as he walked off the court.

However, when he came out on the court the next day, fans began to chant “Zuby.” Encouraged by Red Storm fans who had traveled to the Bahamas to support the team, Ejiofor stated after the game that he would never want to play anywhere but for St. John’s as the Red Storm rolled to an 80-55 win over Virginia in the consolation game.

Doubt

The Johnnies remained to play a third and final contest, a standalone game not a part of the Baha Mar tournament, wishing to return to New York with a winning record in the Bahamas, but doubt began to arise as the Johnnies were outplayed by Georgia and lost by three. In this game, the team was outhustled by an athletic team and struggled to shoot the rock.

Fans began to wonder what their ultimate high-water mark would be. Most fans predicted the team would sweep the three poorer teams in the league, split with the middle teams, and hopefully win one against the predicted top three: UConn, Marquette, and Creighton, which would produce a league record of either 12-8 or 13-7.

Although Zuby Ejiofor was playing better, particularly on offense, there were concerns about the two star transfers in the backcourt. Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith were each limited to three points on a combined 2-of-15 shooting in the loss to Georgia.

Deivon Smith became upset about an apparent second half benching versus the Bulldogs and let the coaching staff know about it. Rick Pitino suspended him for a game and left it up to the team to decide when he could rejoin. The team recognized that his initial penalty was appropriate. So did Smith, and he apologized. Upon hearing his apology, the team voted to give him a second chance.

Equally troubling was the play of Kadary Richmond, who seemed uncomfortable with the Johnnies. Fans were expecting much more from him. Due to all these factors, doubt tempered hope despite the Johnnies winning games towards the end of the year.

On New Year’s Eve, the Johnnies traveled to Creighton for an anticipated matchup with one of the big three of the Big East. A year ago, the Johnnies lost at Creighton by one point in a battle until the final shot. This year, it came down to two final shots, both by RJ Luis. He missed as he tried to drive deep into the paint with a packed group of Bluejay defenders facing him. Rick Pitino criticized him for not pulling up for an open foul line jumper. The Johnnies ended the 2024 part of the year with an 11-3 record.

Upon analyzing the schedule for January, some forecasters stated that this was the month the Johnnies had to make a step forward. There were seven games against the middle and lower-level Big East teams and none against the Big Three. Fans were cautiously optimistic.

The team did just that, sweeping all seven games. Smith worked hard and became an asset, and Richmond began to find his place on the team, scoring, distributing, and playing exceptional defense. Doubt had been replaced again by hope.

This happened even after Smith’s shoulder injury during the Villanova game on January 11. It would become an injury that would impact his play throughout the rest of the season.

By mid-January, the Johnnies were ranked in the top 20 on the Associated Press poll. Hope would soon become a promise. More specifically, a promise that the team would obtain an invitation to the NCAA tournament at the end of the season.

February began with a challenging week. The team faced Marquette at home and then traveled to Storrs for a hostile away game against UConn. The two games against the preseason top three in the league would lead to an away game at Villanova. Winning two out of the three would ensure the team would stamp their ticket for the NCAA Tournament before March. They accomplished this with two huge wins over Marquette and Connecticut and almost knocked off Villanova had it not been for Tyler Perkins’ game-winning three in the final ten seconds.

The team was jelling, and even a two-point loss due to Villanova’s long three-pointer with seconds remaining did not quell the rising excitement.

Promise

The doubt, which had turned back to hope, became something new as hope evolved into promise. Garden attendance was on the rise, and several games were sellouts, and the Johnnies won them all. Then, on Saturday, March 1, the team did it. Before a sellout crowd, the team defeated Seton Hall to claim the championship for the first time in 25 years.

But this determined group was not done. They ended their celebration with the outlook, “There is still work to be done.” At Marquette, the Johnnies survived a week later, 86-84. Still, “more work to be done” was a common statement by players and coaching staff.

When the Big East Tournament began, the Johnnies were the favorites, and they made a promise to themselves. Work hard, pre-game and during the game, and the ultimate league conquest, winning the Big East Tournament, would be theirs. It would be three challenging games in successive nights.

Celebration

Who would have dreamed of this much success when the team started playing on November 4, 2024? No one. Holding a 30-4 record entering Selection Sunday, winning the outright Big East regular season championship clinched on March 1, then securing the Big East Tournament championship by knocking out each opponent they faced by 16 or more points.

Aftermath

The aftermath that came was just that, an aftermath. A decisive 83-53 win in the First Round versus Omaha and a frustrating 75-66 loss to Arkansas in the second round.

Like the Johnnies, the Razorbacks were a physical team that was peaking at the end of their season. Arkansas was able to match the Johnnies’ physicality, didn’t wear down like other opponents facing the Red Storm, and simply played better than the Johnnies.

Yet, despite shooting 28 percent, their star RJ Luis having his worst game of the season, two starters dealing with foul trouble, and Kadary Richmond fouling out after playing for only sixteen minutes, St. John’s kept the game within reach until the final minute. The Red Storm didn’t go away quietly, even on their worst day.

This week, both Kadary Richmond and Aaron Scott elected to undergo surgery to treat the thumb injuries they played with during the end of the season. What impact their injuries had on the team’s performance is a mystery that can never be answered.

With the season concluding, perhaps sooner than expected, St. John’s should be celebrated despite the disappointing defeat. They had competed in every game of the season, tying a program record for 31 wins. Their hard-nosed efforts brought interest in college basketball back to New York City, and the team can be assured that all will remember them for many years into the future.