For St. John’s, the NCAA Tournament started four games ago.
Sure, the Red Storm had already clinched the outright Big East championship when they took the court against Marquette in the March 8 regular-season finale, but head coach Rick Pitino saw an opportunity for a teaching moment.
“We played that as if it was an NCAA game,” Pitino said. “With four minutes left to go in the Marquette game, I said, ‘Alright, you’re in the first round of the NCAA. It’s survive and advance in these last four minutes.’ I felt that was necessary with their lack of playoff experience.”
St. John’s passed that test with an 86-84 overtime victory in Milwaukee, then aced three more by blowing out Butler, Marquette and Creighton last week to win the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden.
That was all in preparation for what comes next.
St. John’s (30-4) is the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s wild, wild West Region and will face No. 15 Omaha (22-12) on Thursday night in Providence, R.I.
That Round of 64 matchup at Amica Mutual Pavilion marks the NCAA Tournament debuts of starters RJ Luis Jr., Aaron Scott and Simeon Wilcher. It’s the first taste of March Madness for key reserve Deivon Smith, too.
Zuby Ejiofor, the Red Storm’s top rebounder and second-leading scorer, totaled only 10 minutes over two NCAA Tournament games as a freshman with Kansas in 2023.
Kadary Richmond played in the Big Dance as a freshman with Syracuse in 2021 and as a sophomore with Seton Hall in 2022 but did not make it back the last two years.
“[We’re] just listening to Coach P. and the coaching staff, because obviously they have more experience than all of us put together,” said Luis, a junior guard who was named Big East Player of the Year and the conference tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
“Trying to be a sponge and keep working on what we’re good at, which is our defensive principles, and keep on playing together.”
This is the 24th trip to the NCAA Tournament for Pitino, who has advanced to the Final Four seven times and led Kentucky (1996) and Louisville (2013) to national championships.
On Sunday, St. John’s became the sixth school Pitino has taken to the Big Dance — the most ever for a Division I coach.
“When you have a lot of experience, you learn what not to do as much as what to do,” said Pitino, 72, who is in his second season at St. John’s.
“You have to stay focused. This is a time of year where everybody is filling out brackets, everybody’s talking about it, and you have to understand the focus of every little thing that goes into an NCAA game.”
Junior forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo, who played in the 2023 NCAA Tournament under Pitino at Iona, said the coach hones in on winning even more during the postseason.
Luis has noticed an uptick in Pitino’s intensity, too, saying, “He’s like a different monster.”
That was evident to Luis during the Johnnies’ Selection Sunday watch party, where associate head coach Steve Masiello handed a packet of Omaha’s statistics to Pitino immediately after they learned their draw for the opener.
“Coach P. was already looking over the statistics to see what he could come up with,” Luis said. “He’s a master of his craft, and he’s gonna do the best that he can with his abilities to put us in the best position to be successful.”
That heightened focus is already rubbing off on the players.
“There’s no room for slackers,” said Smith, a fifth-year senior set to finally appear in the tournament with his fourth school.
“I’m not gonna lie, we have a lot of fun in practice. Like, laughing, joking and playing all day long. Some of that might have to cut out a little bit right now. It’s time to dial it all in, lock in. It’s win or go home.”
St. John’s is one of several heavyweights in a West Region that features three Hall of Fame coaches in Pitino, Kansas’ Bill Self and Arkansas’ John Calipari.
No. 7 Kansas is set to face No. 10 Arkansas on Thursday in Providence. St. John’s would play the winner on Saturday should it advance past Omaha, which won the Summit League championship and its conference tournament.
The West also includes No. 8 UConn, the two-time defending NCAA champions led by Dan Hurley, as well as No. 1 Florida, which just emerged victorious in the gauntlet that was the SEC Tournament.
“I’m just gonna focus on Omaha,” Pitino said. “I’ve lost in the first round before, so we’re just gonna focus on that.”