After nine long years of attempting to reclaim their spot among college basketball’s elite, St. John’s has finally found its redemption; and will take on a former NCAA Tournament opponent in their much-anticipated return to the Big Dance.
“Today was a special day for our players and as a coaching staff, being able to watch up close the experience our team has had,” said head coach Steve Lavin, who also makes his return to the “Big Dance” for the first time since 2002. “Being able to participate in the NCAA Tournament is an experience that I’ll never forget. “It’s a tough challenge; but overall, we think we could do it,” said Justin Burrell, the Big East’s Sixth Man of the Year. Teammate Sean Evans offered this when asked of how it felt to be announced live on national television: “I think it was better than I dreamed up. You can’t picture how it’s going to feel.”
St. John’s and Gonzaga are no strangers to one another on this stage, as the Red Storm were eliminated by the Bulldogs in the 2000 NCAA Tournament when Gonzaga was the tenth seed in the West regional and St. John’s was a No. 2 seed fresh off winning the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden. Gonzaga defeated St. John’s 82-76 in that game, continuing one of their many Cinderella runs that have come to be a trademark for the Jesuit school from Spokane, Washington. The Red Storm may ultimately need to overcome two de facto road games, as Gonzaga (Spokane) and Brigham Young (Provo, Utah) are close enough to Denver to attract a large portion of their hometown fans rather easily if the Johnnies intend to be among the final four Southeast regional teams in New Orleans during the second week of the tournament.
Most importantly, St. John’s will be entering their first NCAA Tournament in nine years with heavy hearts and a motivation to succeed after D.J. Kennedy suffered a torn ACL in the Johnnies’ Big East tournament quarterfinal loss Thursday afternoon against Syracuse. Sean Evans, Kennedy’s roommate and closest friend on the team, wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “Do It For D.J.,” with the phrase “I’m my brother’s keeper” on the back. “Fans hit up my Twitter asking what they could do for D.J., so I started the slogan,” said Evans of the rallying cry that is slowly becoming a trending topic on the popular social network. Star point guard Dwight Hardy recognized Kennedy’s status as one of the leaders of this team as well. “The first person I looked at was D.J., and I thanked him for everything he did for us,” said Hardy after the team received word of its selection. “We’ve got his back.” Coach Lavin paused for a moment to reflect on the impact of one of his ten seniors before calling the occasion a “real bittersweet moment” for Kennedy, “and will be until our journey is complete.” The journey resumes this Thursday, with one goal and one motivation:
DO IT FOR D.J.
After watching countless shows on the NCAA Tournament, there is virtually no mention of St. John’s, and when they have been mentioned, are predicted to lose in Round 1. Not sure if these people actually ever watched the senior laden Red Storm this year. Just wait until the Storm is unleashed on the whole country, they will be talking about them soon. I am pretty certain they are the only team in the field that has beaten two of the number one seeds, Duke and Pitt. And they are the only team in the field that has a shot at a parade down the Canyon of Heroes!!!! Go Johnnies! Do it for DJ!