School History
St. John’s University (STJ) is a private, Roman Catholic, coeducational university located in New York City, United States. Founded by the Vincentian Fathers in 1870, the school was originally located in the borough of Brooklyn in the neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. In 1960, the school was relocated to its current location in the borough of Queens. St. John’s also has campuses in Staten Island(Notre Dame College (New York)), Manhattan, Rome, Italy. and a graduate center in Oakdale, New York. A campus in Paris, France is set to open in the Spring of 2009.
St. John’s is organized into six undergraduate schools and seven graduate schools. As of 2008, the university has a total of 14,983 undergraduate students and 5,086 graduate students.
The university has seen much growth on its campuses in order to attract students from outside the New York area. In 1999, the first dormitory was completed on the Queens campus. As of 2008, the campus now contains seven dorms and a townhouse complex.
Basketball Tradition
St. John’s is the 5th most winning program in college basketball history (1673 wins), and has the 7th best winning percentage (.680) in the NCAA. St. John’s boasts the 7th-most NCAA tournament appearances (27), two Wooden National Player of the Year Award Winners, 11 consensus All-Americans, 6 members of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and has sent 59 players to the NBA. However, of the top 5 teams, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, and St. John’s, St. John’s is the only team not to win an NCAA championship for basketball, and 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 two NCAA Div 1 Championships. 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. St. John’s also holds a Helms Athletic Foundation Championship. In 2008, St. John’s celebrated its 100th year of college basketball.