History was made in the world of men’s college basketball as the Saint John’s Red Storm overcame a struggling first half deficit against the Creighton Bluejays to end up routing them in the second half to win their first Big East championship since 2000 with a score of 82-66. Madison Square Garden, packed with 19,812 raving fans, many from St. John’s, whose main campus is just an hour away in Queens, New York, erupted in celebration.
Nicholas Santiago, a St. John’s senior and Red Storm superfan, witnessed the program go from mediocrity to one of the best teams in the nation. “Basketball did not really have a strong culture on campus for my first two years here. We were really just a mediocre team forever so there was no excitement around the program,” Santiago explained.
From Mediocrity to Champions: The Pitino Effect
In 2022, the Red Storm finished the season 17-15, beginning the season strong but faltering and getting demolished for a large number of their games in conference play. St. John’s lost in the first round of the Big East Tournament and was very far off from making the NCAA March Madness Tournament. The pattern repeated in 2023, with St. John’s winning only one more regular-season game. Fortunately, St. John’s found the perfect solution in a 72-year-old coach: Richard “Rick” Pitino, one of the greatest journeymen in basketball history.
Pitino’s coaching career, starting in 1974 from nothing, brought him on a remarkable journey to Providence, Kentucky, Louisville, and Iona before arriving at St. John’s. Under his stewardship, he built championship teams. He is the only coach to win a conference title with five different teams, demonstrating his unmatched versatility and earning him the nickname, “The Godfather,” for his wisdom, leadership, and mafia-like appearance and personality.
The Godfather expressed a great deal of honor and excitement to coach at St. John’s, taking the job offer without hesitation in 2024, and fans loved him back. “We were loving it once we found out The Godfather was coming because we knew [he had the experience to turn] teams into champions. We knew that the future was bright, and it was just proven in the championship,” Santiago elaborated.
Building a Championship Team
St. John’s had the talent to succeed. St. John’s was led by star players in their juniors RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor. The Red Storm’s most skilled player, Luis, is a 6’7’’ small forward, a three level scorer, and versatile defender. Ejiofor is a 6’9’’ center of pure muscle, an elite rebounding and defensive presence in the paint, with a great touch around the rim. Senior captain Kadary Richmond, a versatile 6’6’’ point guard who is a scrappy perimeter defender, finds his teammates shots, and can score when necessary.
Pitino quickly diagnosed the Red Storm’s problems: rigid offensive schemes and passive defense, tactics that eventually hindered the performance of the entire team. Pitino turned this around immediately. He instituted an aggressive man-to-man defense, applying relentless pressure upon the opposing team crossing half-court. Pitino envisioned his relentless defense would create several fast break opportunities for easy points, while putting in a half court offense revolving around slashing to the rim. This is supposed to create either a straight-line drive, dump-off pass to the big man on the block, or a kick-out to a wide-open shooter around the three-point line.
Pitino’s Plan in Action
St. John’s spent 2024 learning to master Pitino’s new system. Results were beginning to show, finishing the season with a record of 20-13 while making the Big East Quarterfinals. By 2025, the transformation was complete. This 2025 season saw the return of Luis, Ejiofor, Richmond, and lots more of the supporting cast developing exponentially to earn a 30-4 record. The magic of The Godfather was working in flying colors, and the culture of the program was better than ever before, as the Red Storm dominated nearly every team that came its way.
The Red Storm dominated their way to the championship game, routing Butler (78-57) and Marquette (79-63). The Big East Championship would be played between the first-seeded St. John’s Red Storm and the second-seeded Creighton Bluejays. St. John’s would be solidly favored by ESPN with a 69% chance of winning as seven point favorites. MSG was fully packed with almost entirely St. John’s students and fans, as the campus is only an hour away. “I was really confident because we beat them in the regular season and I just knew that we had become too good of a team to come all this way and lose,” Santiago added.
A Rocky Start, Then a Second-Half Surge
The Red Storm stumbled early, missing five of their first six shots and falling behind 10-2 four minutes into the game. The Madison Square Garden crowd fell dead silent. A jumper from Ejiofor off a steal and assist by Richmond brought St. John’s to trailing 15-9. It would be responded to immediately by a wide-open layup by Creighton forward Jackson McAndrew, and Pitino was fuming at his players about the defensive breakdown. The next three minutes saw a defensive battle, only a driving layup by Red Storm sixth man, Deivon Smith and a fast break, up-and-under finish from RJ Luis, with St. John’s down four with ten minutes until halftime.
A minute later, Ejiofor made a perfect backdoor cut behind 7’1’’ Bluejays center Ryan Kalkbrenner for an alley-oop dunk assisted by Luis. The physical, upfront perimeter and interior defenses of both teams held each other scoreless for the next three minutes. Eventually, Creighton star point guard and sharpshooter Steven Ashworth would nail a deep three-pointer, before mockingly gesturing and yelling at the St. John’s crowd to “settle down.” This lit a fire under the Red Storm, and Ejiofor immediately responded by knocking down a triple of his own. Great efforts were made by Kadary Richmond, snagging several offensive rebounds for putback layups as St. John’s and Creighton traded buckets before entering the halftime break with Creighton leading 28-25.
Although no one but his players know exactly what Pitino said at the half, anyone who knows The Godfather understands that he let his players have it in a fiery, encouraging halftime speech that would set the tone for a second-half Red Storm takeover. With fourteen minutes to play, a crucial three pointer was nailed by Luis on a kick out pass from Smith to finally tie the game up at 38. Madison Square Garden was erupting, Santiago said, “you could not even hear the game being played over the cheering from the crowd.” Ashworth knocked down another jumper, but Ejiofor responded once again, with an and-one layup from a dump off pass by Richmond. Creighton was not done yet, with Ashworth drilling a deep three to take a 44-43 lead. St. John’s responded with three straight driving layups, each right before the shot clock expired between Luis and Richmond, with only ten minutes left.
Luis would later knock down another three-pointer, which would immediately be followed by five great defensive possessions that created fast break opportunities that led to open layups. The Bluejays were barely hanging on with a desperate three-pointer falling from McAndrew, which was followed up by yet another triple from Luis, who shot 4/4 from behind the arc on his way to a legendary performance of 29 points and ten rebounds, securing the Big East Tournament MVP award after the win. The Red Storm now led 61-53 with six minutes remaining.
Ejiofor threw down another dunk from a Richmond assist to lead by ten. Ejiofor would finish the game with twenty points and a constant force that Kalkbrenner and Creighton could not shake on either side of the ball. Richmond put on an excellent performance, with twelve points, twelve rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The dagger was sunk from three by Red Storm sharpshooter Aaron Scott, who had a rough night but hit the very shot that put away the Bluejays. With under four minutes to go, St. John’s led 72-57. The Creighton offense was panicking, with McAndrew, Ashworth, and Kalkbrenner completely broken down.
“The key was really just the way we flipped the switch offensively in the second half and how everyone bought in and we were all swinging the rock and knocking down three-pointers. We just overwhelmed Creighton’s defense and there was nothing they could do,” concluded Santiago. For the rest of the game, both teams would trade free throws, until Creighton subbed out all of their starters with two minutes left, surrendering defeat and sending Madison Square Garden into a frenzy. “We were going nuts the whole game because campus was only like an hour away so our student section was packed. After the game everyone was really going crazy when we all ran on the court and were celebrating,” reminisced Santiago.
When the final buzzer went off, the score was St. John’s 82, Creighton 66. Red and white confetti rained down and covered the very team that everyone counted out. The Godfather had done it again, proving that age is just a number, and took a boring, below average program into a legendary team that will forever remain a fan favorite in the hearts of any basketball fan in New York. One does not know how much longer Pitino and St. John’s have together, but the future is obviously bright, and which everyone should cherish and enjoy at the moment.
