Deivon Smith’s social-media post said it all.
On Selection Sunday, a few hours before St. John’s landed a No. 2 seed and a first-round matchup with No. 15 Omaha in the NCAA Tournament, Smith shared a series of photos on X.
One showed Smith hoisting the trophy after his resurgent Red Storm’s Big East Tournament championship. Another showed him cutting down the net at Madison Square Garden.
“Best Decision I’ve Ever Made!” Smith captioned the images.
The decision Smith referred to came last spring, when he transferred to St. John’s for his final season of NCAA eligibility.
A storybook season followed, earning St. John’s its first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2019 — and the first-ever trip for Smith, a fifth-year senior now with his fourth school.
“Going through the process, finding a home to win in … I’m happy I took a leap of faith,” Smith said. “I came on a visit with these guys, gelled with them. I didn’t even visit another school or answer the call from anybody else.”
Smith, a speedy guard who helped fuel the Johnnies’ transition offense and high-pressure defense, wasn’t the only St. John’s veteran making his NCAA Tournament debut Thursday night against Omaha at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I.
Senior guard Aaron Scott spent his first three seasons at North Texas. All three years ended with trips to the NIT, a tournament the Mean Green won in 2023.
Scott, a do-it-all defender with a reputation for fighting for 50/50 balls, also transferred to St. John’s last offseason for a final run at the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m in the moment right now,” Scott said, “so of course living it is better than dreaming it.”
Leading scorer RJ Luis Jr., meanwhile, did not make it to the Big Dance as a freshman with UMass in 2023 or as a sophomore with St. John’s last year.
“It’s just crazy,” Luis said, “and I’m just trying to soak it all in.”
Unlike Smith or Scott, the junior Luis has NCAA eligibility remaining beyond this season. But after a breakout season in which he was named Big East Player of the Year and the conference tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Luis could enter this summer’s NBA Draft.
“To go through a career and not be part of March Madness is really difficult for any athlete, especially at the major level,” head coach Rick Pitino said.
“So for these guys to see Madison Square Garden packed … and then to experience that the entire year, to win the Big East, to win the Big East Tournament, sold-out Madison Square Garden louder than I’ve ever heard it, even as the Knicks coach, was an amazing feeling for them.”
Those feelings are unlike anything Smith experienced at his previous stops at Mississippi State, Georgia Tech or Utah.
“When I hopped off the plane, I did an individual workout, and that was like what we were going to do every day. I just knew that, in order to take my game to the next level, I had to put the grind in,” Smith said of his recruiting trip.
“If Coach P. could get out there and work us out each and every day, that shows how dedicated he is to the game and investing time in us as players. That was super special, and that was kind of all I needed to see.”