Conference Big East Conference Athletic director Anton Goff | NCAA Division I Varsity teams 16 | |
University St. John's University (New York) Location New York City, New York | ||
The St. John's Red Storm is the nickname used for the 16 varsity athletic programs of St. John's University, in the U.S. state of New York. St. John's 16 NCAA Division I teams compete in the Big East Conference, with the exception of the fencing team, which compete in the ECAC. On December 15, 2012, St. John's and the other six Catholic, non-FBS schools (the so-called "Catholic 7") announced that they were departing the former Big East for a new conference. The "Catholic 7", after purchasing the "Big East" name from the FBS schools and adding Butler, Creighton, and Xavier, will operate as a new Big East Conference beginning in July 2013.
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The athletic program fields sixteen intercollegiate teams: basketball, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, golf, and fencing for men and basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, tennis, track and field, cross country, golf, and fencing for women. In 2002, the university eliminated five men's athletic teams and one women's team in order to comply with Title IX rules prohibiting activities that receive federal assistance from discriminating on the basis of gender.
Prior to the 1994–1995 school year, the university's nickname was the St. John's Redmen, which referenced the red uniforms worn by its teams in competition. The name was interpreted as a Native American reference in the 1960s, and the university did have a mascot (adorned in Native American dress), which eventually led to the team's name change to the Red Storm. The change happened at a time when there was mounting pressure on colleges and universities to adopt names more sensitive to Native American culture. The Redmen name still remains popular among fans, however, as does "Johnnies". On September 18, 2009 the new mascot, which was voted on by students, was revealed; Johnny Thunderbird.
Men
St. John's is the 7th most winningest program in college basketball history (1686 wins), St. John's boasts the 7th-most NCAA tournament appearances (27), two Wooden Award winners as national player of the year, 11 consensus All-Americans, 6 members of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and has sent 59 players to the NBA. However, St. John's currently holds the NCAA Division I record for most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship appearances without a championship. The Red Storm play most of their home games at Madison Square Garden,"The World's Most Famous Arena", while their early non-conference games are held at Carnesecca Arena on the St. John's campus in Queens. St. John's University holds the second best winning percentage for a New York City school in the NCAA basketball tournament (second to City College of New York - which won the 1950 NCAA Div 1 Championship) St. John's has the most NIT appearances with 27, the most championship wins with 6, although they were stripped of one due to an NCAA infraction. The 1910–11 St. John's team finished the season with a 14–0 record and was retroactively named the national champion by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. In 2008, St. John's celebrated its 100th year of college basketball.
On February 21, 2011 the men's basketball team was voted into the top 25 in the AP and ESPN Coaches poll. This was the first time the team had been ranked since the end of the season in 2000.
The basketball team is the most popular collegiate basketball program in New York City and has a world-wide following. There are numerous fan forums that support the basketball program, in addition to all of the university's teams. The most popular is redmen.com which often leads the mainstream sports media in breaking news regarding its sports teams.
Women
The women's basketball team is coached by Joe Tartamella, who became the head coach in 2012.
Soccer
St. John’s won the 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship, made four appearances in the NCAA College Cup (1996, 2001, 2003 and 2008) and reached sixteen NCAA post-season tournaments, including fifteen straight from 1992 to 2006. The Red Storm also reached ten consecutive NCAA Tournament Rounds of sixteen from 1996 to 2005. Under Coach Masur, the Red Storm have also won seven Big East Tournament titles, six regular season crowns and has qualified for eighteen consecutive Big East tournaments. Their home games are hosted at Belson Stadium, a state of the art 2,168 seat stadium on the university campus, which sells out often. In 2006, the men's soccer team became the first American soccer team to be invited to play in Vietnam. The team played against several Vietnam Football Federation squads as well as participating in community service.
Baseball
The St. John's baseball team, currently coached by Ed Blankmeyer, has been to the College World Series six times, recorded 34 NCAA appearances, 8 Big East Championships and have sent 70 players on to professional baseball careers. The team plays at the 3,500-seat Jack Kaiser Stadium, dedicated in 2007 to the Hall of Fame Coach and former St. John's Athletic Director. The stadium is one of the largest college baseball stadiums in the northeast, and is a featured venue on the EA Sports MVP NCAA Baseball video game. The stadium was conceived out of a deal between the university and the Giuliani administration. The administration wanted to find a location for a single-A team that would be affiliated with the New York Mets. Expressing concern about quality of life issues and the spending of public money for a private religious institution, surrounding neighborhood civic groups and local politicians protested the plan. In order to placate their concerns, however, the Mets offered to open it up to the communities for local high school games and youth programs. This stadium was built despite large protests by community residents as well as State Senator Frank Padavan (while also using city financing) The Red Storm played the first ever game at the Mets' new ballpark, Citi Field on March 29, 2009.
Big East Regular Season Championships: 1987, 1991, 1992, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015 (8)
Big East Tournament Championships: 1985, 1986, 1988, 1993, 1997, 2010, 2012, 2015 (8)
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1949, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 (35)
College World Series Appearances: 1949, 1960, 1966, 1968, 1978, 1980 (6)
Fencing
The St. John's fencing program has also attained national prominence including Olympians Keeth Smart and Ivan Lee. In 2001, St. John's won the NCAA Fencing Championship. The team has ranked in the top five each of the last 10 years, and finished 2nd in the NCAA during 1995, 2000, 2002, 2007 and 2010 seasons. In addition to team accolades, St. John's has won twenty-two NCAA individual national championship titles.
Golf
The men's golf team have won 10 Big East conference titles: 1979, 1981–84, 1986–89, 2014.
Football
St. John's discontinued it's varsity football team in 2002.
NCAA team championships
St. John’s has won 2 NCAA team national championships.
Mascot
In spring 2009, St. John's allowed its students to vote on what the new official Red Storm mascot would be. At a soccer game in fall 2009, members of the Athletics Department announced that a Thunderbird had received the majority of votes and would become the new mascot. After a vote, the new mascot was named Johnny Thunderbird. He can be seen at many of the school's athletic events, cheering on the Red Storm.