There is no question that in just three seasons, Rick Pitino has made a major impact at St. John’s, from winning back-to-back Big East regular-season and tournament championships for the first time in program history to having three of his players get drafted in this year’s NBA draft for the first time since the 1983 draft. Pitino has also brought St. John’s back to playing more consistently at Madison Square Garden, with more fans, too.
3️⃣ PRO JOHNNIES
🔥 Most St. John’s players drafted since 1983
👏 St. John’s three selections in this year’s NBA Draft ties for the most of any college program pic.twitter.com/upAXnksAIc
— St. John’s Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) June 25, 2026
Pitino has brought St. John’s back to Madison Square Garden
Pitino’s Tenure
Pitino took over St. John’s for the 2023-2024 season. That season, the Johnnies played eight regular-season games at Madison Square Garden. Six were in conference, and the other two were part of out-of-conference events (Gavitt Tipoff Games and Holiday Festival). In these eight games, the Johnnies went 5-3, had one sellout, and had an average attendance of 13,977. St. John’s also reached the semifinals of the Big East tournament this year, the first time they had done so since the 1999-2000 season.
The following season, Pitino’s team had nine regular-season games at the Garden. Eight of those games were conference games, and the out-of-conference game was part of the NYC Hoops for Heroes event where Pitino squared off against his son, who was the head coach of New Mexico at the time. In these nine games, the Johnnies went 9-0, had three sellouts, and had an average attendance of 16,993. The Red Storm also won their first Big East Tournament Championship this year since the 1999-2000 season.
St. John’s played 12 regular-season games at Madison Square Garden in the 2025-2026 season. This is the most games that the Johnnies have played at the Garden since the 1951-1952 season. Out of these 12 games, nine of them were in conference, two were regular out-of-conference games, and one of the out-of-conference games was the NYC Hoops for Heroes event against Pitino’s former school, Iona. In these games, the Johnnies went 10-2, had two sellouts, and had an average attendance of 16,363. In Pitino’s three years, he has had 29 regular-season games at the Garden, a record of 24-5, and an average attendance of 15,900.
Life Before Pitino
Before Pitino, this turnaround at the Garden is something that looked like an impossible feat for St. John’s fans. Looking at St. John’s, from the inception of the new Big East (2013-2014 season) through Mike Anderson’s final season (2022-2023 season), excluding the COVID year, the Johnnies have played 58 regular-season games at Madison Square Garden. In those 58 games, they have had a record of 29-29 with an average attendance of 12,276.
Now, just looking directly at Anderson’s tenure before Pitino, from the 2019-2020 season to the 2022-2023 season (we will not count the COVID year 2020-21). In three years, St. John’s played 16 regular-season games at Madison Square Garden, with an average attendance of 9,113. In Anderson’s final season at St. John’s, he had four regular-season games at the Garden. All of these games were in conference; none were sellouts, and the average attendance was 11,853. It looked like the Johnnies were playing their way out of the Garden altogether.
Pitino has not had a shortage of winning in his first three years as the Johnnies’ head coach. He has gone 71-22 in the regular season; in the last two years alone, St. John’s has gone 36-4 in conference play. Pitino has topped this off with two Big East Regular Season and Tournament Championships in the past two years. The only thing that is missing from Pitino’s St. John’s resume is a deep NCAA tournament run. Although nothing official has been announced yet, look for the Red Storm to set a new record this upcoming season with regular-season games at Madison Square Garden.
Photo Credit: Amber Searls, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
