Maybe there was more buzz attached to the evening of Nov. 13, 2015, because this wasn’t just a season-opening basketball game at Carnesecca Arena, it was the homecoming of the crown prince of St. John’s. The Red Storm would win only eight of 32 games that year under rookie coach Chris Mullin, but one of them was that night, 66-57 over Wagner’s Seahawks.
There was certainly more electricity bouncing around that old fieldhouse on the night of Nov. 30, 1984, when it was still known as Alumni Hall and Lou Carnesecca was still a few months away from turning in his game-night sports coat for a sweater. But those Johnnies harbored Final Four ambitions, 6,158 fans were jammed into the place and Mullin (25 points) and Walter Berry (15) fueled a 93-47 demolition of Lafayette in the opener of the old Lapchick Tournament.
“It was a hometown night, everyone enjoyed it,” Looie crowed after his Redmen won the first of 31 games on their way to Lexington and the season’s final weekend. “They won’t all be Picasso.”
You shouldn’t expect Picasso on Tuesday night, either, when another season along Utopia Parkway will kick off when the Johnnies welcome Stony Brook to campus for the lid-lifter of what has to be one of the most anticipated seasons is years, and the debut for Rick Pitino as head coach.
If St. John’s wanted to create positive vibes by hiring Pitino away from Iona in the spring it accomplished just that. Pitino completely overhauled the roster save for center Joel Soriano, and has rapidly implemented his signature style of 94-foot pressure, a heart-quickening pace, lots of 3s, lots of defense.
“They are all getting to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Pitino said. “They are getting to know each other as well as getting to know me and I’m getting to know them. This team is not going to reach their potential until mid-January or early February, because we’ve had a rash of injuries and they are new to each other.”
That last part could be interpreted as classic coach-speak, except for the fact that the Johnnies lost to Division II Pace 63-59 10 days ago, a sobering score that Pitino instantly spun into a positive, and undoubtedly will summon on any day — game day or practice day — when his players’ attention span seems scattered.
It shouldn’t dampen the enthusiasm that has grown weekly since Pitino was hired shortly after his Gaels were ousted from the NCAA Tournament in March. The Johnnies will be deep, and they’ll be athletic. But as will be the case across the country on this new era of free player movement, teams will bear little resemblance in November to what they’ll be in February.
That might yield some early surprises — one early test is sure to be Michigan at the Garden on Monday — and some early setbacks — don’t be surprised if Fordham, for instance, gives the Johnnies fits when that splendid city series resumes at the Garden on Dec. 16.
But that shouldn’t matter Tuesday, when a huge crowd out of the old school will jump into this season feet-first right alongside the Johnnies, ranked 29 in the initial AP poll, participants in only three of the last 21 NCAA Tournaments, and none since Mullin’s final season in 2019.
“This one is kind of different because it’s the start of a new era for our team in general,” said Soriano, the 6-foot-11 senior center who averaged 15.2 point and 11.9 rebounds a year ago and was named to the Big East’s preseason first team.
“I think there’s been a lot of emphasis on what we have to do, not just with this team but over the season in general, and how we need to improve. I think this will be a big test for our team, a big test to see where we are at. It’s also the start of the college basketball season and that’s very exciting. I’m very excited to get out there.”
He’s not alone. For the first time in a very long time the opening of the St. John’s season comes with a loud soundtrack of hope. For the first time in a very long time Carnesecca Arena is a hot ticket again.
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