Johnny Jungle

The 6th Man of St. John's Basketball

For the die hard St. John's fan.
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Johnnies Building Strong Resume

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The St. John’s Red Storm have just one loss in their last four games, which was a non-conference defeat at UCLA that will matter to the selection committee just about as much as it matter to the fans at Pauley Pavilion in Steve Lavin’s return. It probably won’t mean much.

What will be noted by pundits, fans and march madness odds makers – maybe them more than others – is the three wins, including the Red Storm’s upset home win over ninth-ranked Connecticut on Thursday night. They were a one-point underdog for the contest.

The Johnnies have a relatively decent RPI, once played a stretch of eight games versus ranked opponents and have wins over No. 13 Georgetown, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 3 Duke and now No. 9 Connecticut. That looks pretty good on the resume.

So what’s left? Just some more winning.

Truth be told, 14-9 – and 6-5 in conference play – doesn’t project to be good enough to get you into the March Madness tournament. Yes, they are clearly in contention for a spot but they’ll have to do more – especially in a conference where almost every team can say they are fighting for a bid.

But at least the Red Storm have plenty of quality opponents left on the schedule to pretty up that record.

A key game will be their next one, which on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bearcats handed the Johnnies what most would consider to be their toughest loss of the season in a 53-51 setback on January 22nd.

If St. John’s can do better at the free throw line, they might have a shot to win and start stringing some wins together for a streak. The Red Storm made just 12 of 26 free throw attempts in the first meeting. After that, they’ll be at Marquette before coming back home to face Pittsburgh and DePaul.

First thing is first, the Red Storm have to take care of business on Sunday and keep momentum going.

The Dukes of Midtown

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St. John’s had been waiting for a marquee win since the end of the Mike Jarvis era.  Two coaches and nearly eight years later, the program finally has one.

With suffocating defense and five players scoring in double figures, the Johnnies (12-8) fed off a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden to shock the world with a 93-78 upset win over third-ranked reigning national champion Duke. (19-2)  The Red Storm played solid, fundamentally sound basketball through the first half; and did not rest on their laurels after taking a 21-point cushion into the intermission.  In fact, the Johnnies came on stronger than ever despite being outscored 53-47 over the final stanza.  The sellout and win over Duke were accomplishments last seen prior to today on March 2, 2003; when Marcus Hatten made a game-winning free throw with no time left on the clock to give St. John’s a one-point win at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”

Sean Evans contributed his best effort of the season having a perfect shooting night 5-5 for 10 points off the bench. (Redstormsports.com)
“I thought our team from the outset executed with great precision,” said a visibly overjoyed Steve Lavin after the game.  “We’re always making progress, but you don’t always see that because there are losses.”  While Lavin can be forgiven for exulting in his team’s biggest win of the season; his players adhered to the pragmatic values imparted by the coaching staff at the start of the season.  “It helps out a lot confidence-wise; but at the end of the day, it only counts as one win,” said Justin Burrell; who contributed eight points and five rebounds off the bench.  Dwight Hardy led the Storm with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while Justin Brownlee added 20 points and nine rebounds.  However, in the opposing locker room, the coach who will eventually become the winningest of all time offered his own insight on the team from the corner of Union and Utopia.

“They had a great game plan,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “They have had outstanding games this season, and this was one of them.  In order to beat them today, we would have had to show up and be ready to compete at the level we normally compete at.”  Duke did get 32 points from Nolan Smith to lead all scorers, as well as 20 from fellow senior Kyle Singler; but the Blue Devils were done in by their inefficiency from beyond the arc, ending the game 5-for-26 from three-point range after missing all but one of their first 21 trifecta attempts. On the contrary, St. John’s only attempted five triples, making three; and stunningly, the Red Storm did not attempt a single three in the second half. Buoyed by a 58 percent (32-for-55) effort from the field and scoring 28 points off 17 Duke turnovers, the Johnnies improved to 7-0 on the season when at least four players score ten or more points.

St. John’s finishes their eight-game run against Top 25 opponents with a 3-5 record, and plays two more games this week; their next one coming Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena against a Rutgers team that nearly upset No. 2 Pittsburgh Saturday night in Piscataway before hitting the road to face UCLA in Steve Lavin’s much-anticipated homecoming.

After a big win like this, it’s not easy to find a starting point to analyze it; but after such an emotional high, there will definitely be enough lasting impressions to go around the Queens campus for the next few days.

Lasting Impressions

  • St. John’s unleashed its transition game once again, and once again it was a monster on the court.  The Johnnies outscored Duke 50-30 in the paint while also scoring 28 points off the Blue Devils’ 17 turnovers.  A great deal of the transition success was fueled by bench scoring, a category St. John’s picked up a victory in by the count of 22-14.
  • Paris Horne.  The guard that Steve Lavin has referred to as the “Energizer bunny” was exactly that today, scoring 15 points and facilitating numerous plays that won’t show up in the box score.
  • The Red Storm players have recognized their inability to effectively close to the three-point line throughout the season, a negative they were able to hold at bay for forty minutes at the Garden this afternoon.  Duke was consistently flustered beyond the arc and could not get a triple to fall until late in the second half.  The reigning national champions made four of their last five long-range shots, but missed 20 of their first 21.
  • After the Georgetown game, it looked like Dwight Hardy had started to cool off after his 4-for-16 effort in the loss to the Hoyas.  After today, Hardy looks to have found his hot streak again.  A 9-for-13 effort from the field coupled with a perfect 6-of-6 day at the free throw line can only mean that the senior became reacquainted with his shooting touch over the weekend.
  • The turning point of this game came early in the first half when Steve Lavin decided to bring Sean Evans into the game to compete against Duke’s oversized frontcourt of Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee.  Evans only played 11 minutes, but scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.  Duke was unable to find an answer for Evans to the point where they played the majority of the game with a three-guard lineup, frequently using Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins in their rotation.  Said Justin Burrell of Evans’ play: “We were really excited about him coming out and playing the way he did today, and he really lifted our team.”

This game also marked my Big East Volvo Weekend. I was able to fly in my best friend and roommate from St. John’s, Eddie, in from Miami where he is attending Law school to see the game with me. Volvo put us up in a nice little hotel in Tribeca right by head coach Steve Lavin.

I had to drive up from the Jersey Shore to New York which gave me plenty of quality time with the car. The VolvoS60 drives perfectly smooth and amazingly quiet. The HD radio was great to listen to WFAN660 Sport Radio to Hot97 Rap and R&B. I really enjoyed the navigation system which was voice activated and traffic updates via satellite. This is perfect for driving up to the city because pick your poison Lincoln Tunnel or George Washington Bridge. My traffic was minimal thanks to the reroute from Volvo. The blind spot cameras for changing lanes was also very helpful in city driving.

The day before the game we took the Volvo into queens because I had 5 things I wanted to do back at campus. We were able to eat at the Sly Flox and see a bunch of old faces in the same places. It was great to be back and see what we remembered and the new improvements to facilities on St. John’s beautiful campus.

The game itself was just incredible. The crowd was bigger and better than I’ve ever seen and you just got goosebumps when Garden erupted with applause. Unfortunately I couldn’t send out any tweets in game because the reception in Madison Square Garden is terrible. I’d get no texts then 20 would pour in at once. After the game I had 93 text messages which is nothing compared to Steve Lavin’s 450.

After the game most of the Red Storm faithful went to Stout bar which is owned by a St. John’s alumnus and it was fantastic atmosphere in the program’s biggest win in nearly a decade. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Thanks Volvo!

Frosh to Alum Change is Constant

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In 2002, I was a senior in high school narrowing my list of college choices. I wanted to study sports management and my teacher and basketball coach Ed Wicelinski recommended St. John’s University should be in my list of schools. It made a lot of sense sports + New York = win, win. The interest was mutual as St. John’s sent my family and I tickets to attend the St. John’s basketball game vs Duke University at Madison Square Garden.

The experience was unforgettable as the less talented Red Storm took the highly nationally ranked Duke Blue Devils in front of a sold out crowd. There was something about the atmosphere that made the hair on your arms rise. St. John’s trailed for most of the game but they were keeping it close. Under a minute of play the Red Storm went on a miraculous run that tied up the game. The Blue Devils had the ball with 8 seconds left with the game tied 71-71….lets tune in……..

…..and the crowd storms the floor. The Johnnies win! The Johnnnnies win!

Wow! Immediately I turned to my father and told him that I would be attending St. John’s.

7 years later. I’m a proud alumnus of the University who has been selected to participate in the “Biggest Fan of the Big East” presented by Volvo and the Big East. I’m eligible to win a brand new “Naughty” VolvoS60 and a $10,000 donation to the school.

Since then Marcus Hatten has graduated, St. John’s has 3 new buildings on campus, a new mascot, and Father Maher no longer has that goatee (watch that video again). That’s the beauty of college basketball change is always constant and you see freshman become alumni. However the traditions that you make with your classmates and friends continue to live forever. This brings me to the Volvo challenge at hand with every basketball game follows a night of late dining. Lets go through the traditions from Freshman year to beyond.

Freshman Year

So it’s your freshman year and you have your Storm Card (student ID), not much money, and killer meal plan (thanks Mom). If you went to the game there is a good chance that you missed your dinner at Montgoris Dining Hall and they’re closing up the on campus restaurants. It’s way too cold to walk to 7-11, you’re saving your money for the weekend so Chinese and Dominoes is out of the question for delivery, and your roommate stole your last package of EZ-Mac. So you’re regulated to the C-Store which is now called the “Hungry Johnny. ” This is the on campus convenience store which accepts your meal plan points. Let’s stroll down to the frozen food section for your assortment of Hot Pockets, Burritos, and Lean Cuisine. You wonder why you gained the freshman 15lbs?

Sophomore Year

So now you’re a Sophomore which derives from the Greek words “sophos” meaning “wise” and “moros” meaning “foolish.” How befitting because at 19 don’t you think you own the world? Well one thing is you are a little wiser. You’ve began branching outside of campus life and know some hot spots and you’ve definitely found a person with an old school Volvo car which you fit max capacity at all times. However your eating habits really haven’t improved and you’re relying completely on your fast metabolism. I blame Harold and Kumar going to White Castle.

Junior Year

So now you’ve really branched out. You’ve gotten lost so many times that you’ve stumbled upon a lot of local establishments but there is one that resonates with “late” dining. St. John’s students and alumni may be thinking of it….You know its worth the drive. Cherry Valley!

Cherry Valley is a 24 hour deli that has specialty sandwiches that you will find no where else. No matter what time of day, night, dusk, or dawn there are always people in there chowing down. It may be the best $7-10 you’ll ever spend and it always hits the spot.

Senior Year

You’re growing up and you’ve outgrown the college bar somewhat and you’ve heard about it but you couldn’t get in unless you were 21 years old. After a game you’d simply have a text message on your phone that reads, “Bell”

All of the guys, the girls, this crew, and that crew would all meet up for a night of fun bouncing from one spot to another.

Yes the famous Bell Blvd. This strip contains a number of places for late night dining from sports to martini bars there is a spot for all.

Alumni

Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got.
Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.

Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name….

The Cheers theme song sums up the Sly Fox perfectly. The best place to go after a win or loss after a St. John’s basketball game for late night dining. You can turn to your right, to your left and always see a Red Storm shirt. You can see why it was 1 of the 5 things I wanted to do when going back to campus and mission accomplished.

Certainly in New York, the city that never sleeps, there are a number of late night dining places but all of the places listed above are like a Volvo car, for life.



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Road Trip 5 Song Must Playlist

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St. John’s is coming off a tremendous must need win over No. 11 Notre Dame ending their two game losing streak. The best part of the game was that guy #42, Kevin Clark got into the game. St. John’s will now be heading on the road to play the Louisville Cardinals at the new KFC Yum! center.

It’s no secret to any friends, family, or strangers that I am an alumnus of St. John’s University. It’s probably why I was selected to participate in the Biggest Fan of the Big East Contest sponsored by Volvo. They say there is more to life than a Volvo which is why we’re seeking “5 Songs to Play on a Road Trip.” Volvo knows there are die hard St. John’s fans who will be traveling to Louisville.

In addition to the play list there are a few more vital parts to every road trip. You have to find the friend who has the most reliable, spacious, and great gas mileage car to drive. I hope to be that friend soon by winning the brand new naughty Volvo S60.

It’s no secret that Volvo is one of the safest cars, New York Times knows it with its pedestrian detection technology, you can see how luxurious the interior is, and along with the 300 horse power you also get 30mpg on the highway.

So lets turn the key (or push to start) and get ready for our Red and White road trip.

Every road trip needs an opening anthem. Something that says this road trip is going to rock! For Johnny Jungle there can only be one song that can be played. A little background on the origin of Johnny Jungle. The name stems from St. John’s “Johnny” and the “Jungle” has a very deep meaning. St. John’s is located in New York City also known as the concrete jungle (thanks Jay-Z). St. John’s also plays their home games at Madison Square Garden which the students makes a Jungle. So when anyone comes to down we welcome them to the Jungle.



Now the adrenaline is kicking, you’re pumped you’re on the road. So we’ll look to the local boys who grew up right around the corner from the St. John’s campus in Queens. Everyone knows the words to this head bopping song.



Now you’re in the long stretch of your drive and you need a song to get lost a little bit. My father told me they would play this song when he was in training camp for football in highschool. It would help them get through the rigors of drills from two a days. There aren’t any words in the song which allows you to day dream to the rhythm and sounds.



After you exit the trance you’re thinking about the long ride again. You need a pick me up song. Something you can sing along to and this song puts me right back into college. Remembering all the crazy nights, crazy games, and all the experiences that you will remember for a lifetime. You always got your money’s worth playing this song at the college bar juke box.



Every road trip and every game a fan must always keep this attitude in mind. Maybe this is why the St. John’s pep band plays it once a game. Up 6, down 10, at halftime, 3 min to go, down 1 with 10 seconds left, you can never stop believing. So we’ll close this journey with this….don’t be afraid to sing along. Go St. John’s!



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Off the Court: #42 Who’s That?

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It’s no secret to any friends, family, or strangers that I am an alumnus of St. John’s University. It’s probably why I was selected to participate in the Biggest Fan of the Big East Contest sponsored by Volvo. They say there is more to life than a Volvo which is why we’re seeking “Off the Court Excellence.” Volvo knows there is more to Big East student athletes than just basketball.

Both Volvo and St. John’s alike strive for excellence indicated by their mission statements. St. John’s was inspired by St. Vincent de Paul’s compassion and zeal for service. St. Vincent dedicated his life to helping out the less fortunate extending opportunities to them when no one else would. This is well represented by the diversity at St. John’s as it is ranked the 17th most diverse school in the country by Forbes. What makes this stand out even more is the fact that St. John’s is 1 of 3 private schools which make the top 20 list in the United States.

On the road the new VolvoS60 may be naughty but off the road Volvo still values life and family pledging $10,000 to the school who wins the challenge. (Volvo)
This diversity has produced many prominent alumni in many different facets of life. Former Governors of New York Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo to former Governor of California George Deukmejian. Musical talents Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels to current breakout rap sensation J. Cole. In the sports world ESPN’s Howie Schwab and Brian Kenny (Sports Center) to the late Bob Sheppard “Voice of the New York Yankees.” Of course business men Bruce R. Bent, inventor of first money market fund and Mike Repole the inventor of Vitamin Water.

Volvo also shares the beliefs of values and excellence in building safer cars since 1927. As St. John’s continues to enhance the lives of young people Volvo continues to protect them. Volvo’s Saved My Life Club is a true testament to their statement, “You’re not driving a car. You’re driving a promise,” and Volvo has done just that. They have pledged $10,000 to the Alma Mater of the winner of this contest. Volvo Victory = Vincentian Values!….hows that for alliteration?

So with no further adieu who is #42?

He comes from the small town of Scranton, Pennsylvania. “We don’t get much recognition,” but he had big dreams, “I wanted to come to school here in New York City.” He passed on other opportunities to play basketball elsewhere despite not receiving a scholarship offer from St. John’s. He tried out for the team his freshman year but was cut. He took a job in the basketball office just so he could remain close to the team. He tried out his sophomore year again and successfully became a walk-on player for the Red Storm. Some of you know him as #42 but his name is Kevin Clark, senior, St. John’s Red Storm.

“I just wanted to play at the biggest level possible, biggest city, and St. John’s tradition and history is something anybody would be lucky to play for.”

Despite his name not making headlines on the backpage of New York papers, the Clark’s are pretty well known back home. Kevin has three brothers Patrick, Jordan, and Chael who are all scholars as well as athletes. Patrick and Jordan both played college baseball while Chael played his college basketball at New York University. “As an older brother I looked up to him in everything that he did. He was very accomplished athletically and academically, (pauses, laughs) obviously because he went to NYU,” Kevin spoke of his brother Chael who he would hop on the E Train to visit for advice when he first came to St. John’s, “He’s been a real role model for me.”

So four brothers, all athletes, what are those driveway games like during the holidays?

The teams are usually Patrick and Kevin vs Jordan and Chael. “The Holidays are the best times because we get to be home and the first place we go is to play pick up basketball wherever we can.” Although Kevin couldn’t take credit for being the best player or athlete deferring to his older brothers. I think he may have been just being modest or he didn’t want to come home next holiday after his brothers read this.

Kevin Clark showing off the fruits of labor and hard work. He thought this picture of him in a hair net would disappear! (Redstormsports.com)
Speaking of holidays Kevin as well as the entire St. John’s men’s basketball team have spent their past four Thanksgivings with the Bread of Life serving the homeless at a shelter in Brooklyn. “Well outside of the court I realize I’m related to the basketball team and I act accordingly.” said the senior.

On the court his role during the game may be minimal in the final score but what he may fail to realize is that he gives hope to every person in the stands. So many people respect and admire his passion and determination that has earned him the privilege to wear that St. John’s jersey on game day. It’s not easy being a walk-on player. “We do everything that the scholarship players do,” Clark said confidently, We go through all the drills, run 5 on 5 with them, and it just comes down to 5 guys on the court and usually we’re not the ones on it. We try to get them ready for whoever they’re playing and whatever the situation is.”

When #42 checks into the game every father tells his son the story of how he got cut his freshman year, made the team next year without a scholarship, how he’s a dean’s list student, and how with hard work dreams can come true.

For Kevin it’s never about himself. “It’s not so much a personal legacy for me but I want to be able to say that I was a part of something great. An NCAA team, a Big East Championship team,” Clark speaking of legacy at St. Johns, “but personally being around these guys, doing what I’m doing now is enough for me.” This is why #42 Kevin Clark receives the Off the Court Excellence Award.

After graduation Kevin plans to pursue a career in coaching so he can help teach the youth play the game in addition to growing up to be strong young men in their communities. He feels that the lessons and values he’s learned being a part of St. John’s Basketball team will propel him in anything he sets his mind to.



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