1980 St. John’s Basketball: The Birth of the Big East & A Bitter Ending

St. John’s basketball came into 1980 on a run of four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. In 1979, a young team finished strong and got on a Cinderella run in March that brought them within a basket of the Final Four. The 1980 edition of St. John’s basketball was a better team, but some bracket inequities helped do them in when the NCAAs arrived.

A NEW ERA IN THE EAST

1980 was a historic year for basketball in the East. Seven teams, including St. John’s, had come together to form the Big East Conference. Due to previous scheduling commitments, the schools couldn’t play a full double-round robin, and there were only six league games. But, along with Georgetown, Syracuse, Boston College, UConn, Seton Hall, and Providence, the Redmen were changing the face of college basketball.

And they had the personnel to compete. Reggie Carter and Wayne McKoy, the keystones of the ’79 team were back. Carter, a 6’3” guard led all scorers with 15ppg. McKoy, at 6’8” was down low and averaged 14 points/7 rebounds. Bernard Rencher was a good senior point guard who handed out five assists per game.

This core group was augmented by David Russell a 6’7” freshman who posted an 11/5 per-game average. Curtis Redding and Ron Plair each got playing time on the wings and combined to average a 17/8 line.

Coming off last March’s run, hopes were up in Queens and St. John’s was ranked #16 in the preseason polls.

BUILDING MOMENTUM

The Redmen won their first two games, including an 88-79 win over defending national champion Michigan State—albeit a Spartan team that was completely rebuilding after the departure of Magic Johnson for the pros. That was followed by a decisive 97-80 loss at Tennessee, a good team bound for the NCAA Tournament.

St. John’s bounced back from that to coast through an otherwise non-descript early schedule to get to 7-1 by December 27. On that Thursday night, in Madison Square Garden, the Redmen would play their first Big East Conference game.

THE FIRST BIG EAST WINS

Boston College was the opponent. They were a solid 19-win team and had the foundation of a roster that would contend for the next several years. St. John’s handed BC a 78-70 loss.

In their first game after the New Year, the Redmen got another league win at MSG, beating UConn, who was en route to 20 wins. In an era when only 40 teams made the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies—like BC—would not make the field. But in context, these were two good teams St. John’s had beaten to start their new conference era.

A NATIONAL CONTENDER EMERGES

The Redmen went out to blow out mediocre Seton Hall, coached by Bill Raftery, and then put a 72-55 beatdown on a St. Joseph’s squad that was headed for 21 wins. A return trip to Boston College produced a narrow 66-63 win.

On January 19, the Saturday before the Steelers-Rams Super Bowl, St. John’s went to the nation’s capital to play Georgetown. The Hoyas were a contender, headed for a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament and their lineup included sharpshooting guard Sleepy Floyd. The Redmen escaped with a 71-69 win.

When the next polls came out, St. John’s was #9 in the country, sitting on a record of 14-1, and racking up wins against the best teams of the East.

HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHTS

Five more wins followed, including an 81-75 escape over Villanova, an NCAA-bound team that would join the Big East a year later.

At 19-1, the winning streak finally ended when seventh-ranked Louisville came to MSG for a Sunday showcase game. The Redmen still played competitively against the team who would ultimately win the national championship before dropping a 76-71 decision.

After a couple of perfunctory wins, it was time for another big showdown. Syracuse was ranked #2 in the nation and coming to MSG on a mid-February Saturday. The Orangemen, along with the Redmen and Hoyas, were vying for the inaugural Big East title.

St. John’s again hung with one of the nation’s best teams, but again suffered a tough loss, this one 72-71. It dropped them into a three-way tie with Syracuse and Georgetown, each with one conference loss apiece.

THE FIRST CONFERENCE BANNER

The Redmen didn’t finish the regular season strong, but it was good enough to get wins over mediocre teams in Temple and Providence. And beating the Friars made it official that St. John’s got their one-third piece of the conference championship, truncated schedule or no.

Providence hosted the inaugural Big East Tournament, so St. John’s was back in Rhode Island a few days later. The tiebreakers set them up as the 2-seed, and they won a rematch with the Friars, grinding out a 48-44 win. But a 76-66 loss to Georgetown ended their league tournament hopes.

With a record of 24-4, this season was an undisputed success, but it did have the feel of one that may have peaked in February. Now it was time to see what would happen in March.

A BRACKET INJUSTICE

St. John’s came up as the 3-seed in the Mideast Regional (the organizational forerunner of today’s South bracket). On the surface, that seems reasonable. But it wasn’t. They were sent to West Lafayette—where host school Purdue was the 6-seed in the same regional.

Moreover, if the Redmen survived on the road, the regionals were in Lexington—and Kentucky was the 1-seed in the Mideast. St. John’s road to the Final Four was marked by literal road games.

It has to be said that home cooking was very common in this era, and even playing a lower-seeded team like Purdue on the road wasn’t unheard of. But it’s an inequity however you slice it. Combined with the somewhat slow finish to the regular season, the bracket seemed to hint that the weird fates of March might be turning on the Redmen this season.

A CRUEL ENDING

In a 40-team bracket, St. John’s seed put them straight into the Round of 32. Purdue handled their business in the opening round. And then the hosts went about handling the Redmen.

St. John’s had no answer for Boilermaker center Joe Barry Carroll, and they were dominated on the glass. They also shot just 12 free throws compared to 31 for Purdue. Was that a reflection of the Boilermakers attacking and controlling the interior? Or was it a sign of home cooking?

In any event, an 87-72 thumping was the result. A season that deserved a better ending was in the books.

A BRIGHT FUTURE

Carnesecca did some retooling in 1981 and the NCAA Tournament streak that was now five years, ended. But St. John’s was ready to thrive in this new era of basketball in the East. Over the next eleven years, Carnesecca made 10 NCAA brackets, and put the Redmen into the national conversation, including a Final Four run with Chris Mullin in 1985.