1977–78 St. John's Redmen basketball team

1977–78 St. John's Redmen men's basketball
Lapchick Memorial Champions
ECAC Metro tournament Champions
ConferenceIndependent
Record21–7
Head coach
Assistant coaches
CaptainGeorge Johnson
Home arenaAlumni Hall
Madison Square Garden
Seasons
1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 DePaul –   – 27 – 3   .900
No. 18 Detroit –   – 25 – 4   .862
Illinois State –   – 24 – 4   .857
No. 8 Marquette –   – 24 – 4   .857
Pan American –   – 22 – 4   .846
VCU –   – 24 – 5   .828
Fairfield –   – 22 – 5   .815
North Texas State –   – 22 – 6   .786
Syracuse –   – 22 – 6   .786
Rhode Island –   – 24 – 7   .774
Providence –   – 24 – 8   .750
St. John's –   – 21 – 7   .750
Utah State –   – 21 – 7   .750
Georgetown –   – 23 – 8   .742
No. 6 Notre Dame –   – 23 – 8   .742
Holy Cross –   – 20 – 7   .741
Northeast Louisiana –   – 20 – 7   .741
UNC Wilmington –   – 19 – 7   .731
St. Bonaventure –   – 21 – 8   .724
UNLV –   – 20 – 8   .714
Virginia Tech –   – 19 – 8   .704
James Madison –   – 18 – 8   .692
Maine –   – 17 – 8   .680
Army –   – 19 – 9   .679
Dayton –   – 19 – 10   .655
St. Francis (NY) –   – 16 – 9   .640
Iona –   – 17 – 10   .630
William & Mary –   – 16 – 10   .615
Air Force –   – 15 – 10   .600
Loyola (IL) –   – 16 – 11   .593
Mercer –   – 16 – 11   .593
Oklahoma City –   – 16 – 11   .593
Seton Hall –   – 16 – 11   .593
Boston College –   – 15 – 11   .577
Butler –   – 15 – 11   .577
Saint Francis (PA) –   – 15 – 11   .577
South Carolina –   – 16 – 12   .571
Siena –   – 13 – 10   .565
Navy –   – 14 – 11   .560
Milwaukee –   – 15 – 12   .556
Niagara –   – 14 – 12   .538
Northeastern –   – 14 – 12   .538
Southern Mississippi –   – 13 – 12   .520
Portland State –   – 14 – 13   .519
Stetson –   – 14 – 13   .519
Oral Roberts –   – 13 – 14   .481
Xavier –   – 13 – 14   .481
Cleveland State –   – 12 – 13   .480
Tennessee State –   – 11 – 12   .478
Catholic –   – 12 – 14   .462
Manhattan –   – 12 – 14   .462
Georgia Southern –   – 12 – 15   .444
Northwestern State –   – 12 – 15   .444
Connecticut –   – 11 – 15   .423
Old Dominion –   – 11 – 15   .423
Vermont –   – 11 – 15   .423
Boston University –   – 10 – 15   .400
Hardin–Simmons –   – 10 – 16   .385
Campbell –   – 9 – 15   .375
Centenary (LA) –   – 10 – 17   .370
Denver –   – 10 – 17   .370
Colgate –   – 9 – 17   .346
East Carolina –   – 9 – 17   .346
Fordham –   – 8 – 18   .308
Long Island –   – 8 – 18   .308
Saint Peter's –   – 8 – 18   .308
Baptist –   – 8 – 19   .296
Samford –   – 8 – 19   .296
Canisius –   – 7 – 19   .269
Houston Baptist –   – 7 – 19   .269
New Hampshire –   – 7 – 19   .269
Wagner –   – 7 – 19   .269
Evansville –   – 1 – 3   .250
Fairleigh Dickinson –   – 6 – 18   .250
Valparaiso –   – 6 – 19   .240
Robert Morris –   – 4 – 19   .174
Richmond –   – 4 – 22   .154
Hawaii –   – 1 – 26   .037
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977–78 St. John's Redmen basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Lou Carnesecca in his tenth year at the school. St. John's home games are played at Alumni Hall and Madison Square Garden.

The Redmen won the ECAC Metro tournament after beating Army in the final.[1]

Roster

1977–78 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G/F - Kevelin Winfree 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
—
 Sr Alexander Hamilton Brooklyn, NY
G 4 Tom Calabrese 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
—
 Jr Cliffside Park Cliffside Park, NJ
G 5 Bernard Rencher 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
—
 RS So Mater Christi/Notre Dame Elmhurst, NY
G/F 22 Ron Plair 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
—
 Fr William C. Bryant Queens, NY
F 24 George Johnson (C) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
—
 Sr New Utrecht Brooklyn, NY
G/F 32 Gordon Thomas 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
—
 Jr Bay Shore Bay Shore, NY
C 33 Paul Berwanger 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
—
 RS Sr Cornwall Central/Boston College Cornwall, NY
G 35 Reggie Carter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
—
 RS So Long Island Lutheran/Hawaii New York, NY
F 43 Frank Gilroy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
—
 Fr Holy Cross Queens, NY
F 44 Rudy Wright 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
—
 Jr Long Island City Queens, NY
C 55 Wayne McKoy 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
—
 Fr Long Island Lutheran Queens, NY
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Exhibition
11/20/77*
 No. 20 Soviet Union National Team W 72-70 OT
Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
Regular season
11/25/77*
 No. 20 Lafayette
Lapchick Tournament Opening Round 		W 66-60  1-0
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
11/26/77*
 No. 20 Old Dominion
Lapchick tournament championship 		W 81-70  2-0
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
11/29/77*
 No. 16 at Vanderbilt W 59-54  3-0
 Memorial Gymnasium 
Nashville, TN
12/03/77*
 No. 16 at Princeton W 43-40  4-0
 Jadwin Gymnasium 
Princeton, NJ
12/06/77*
 No. 13 Army W 73-60  5-0
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
12/10/77*
 No. 13 at Rutgers L 61-72  5-1
 Rutgers Athletic Center 
New Brunswick, NJ
12/13/77*
 Columbia W 67-56  6-1
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
12/16/77*
 vs. Seattle
Kentucky Invitational Semifinal 		W 77-60  7-1
 Rupp Arena 
Lexington, KY
12/17/77*
 at No. 1 Kentucky
Kentucky Invitational Championship 		L 72-102  7-2
 Rupp Arena 
Lexington, KY
12/28/77*
 vs. Georgia Tech
Maryland Invitational Semifinal 		L 67-73  7-3
 Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
12/29/77*
 vs. Western Kentucky
Maryland Invitational Consolation 		W 80-63  8-3
 Cole Field House 
College Park, MD
01/04/78*
 Seton Hall W 87-86 OT 9-3
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
01/07/78*
 at No. 20 Georgetown L 61-72  9-4
 McDonough Gymnasium 
Washington, D.C.
01/11/78*
 Fordham W 97-56  10-4
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
01/14/78*
 at Boston College W 76-54  11-4
 Roberts Center 
Chestnut Hill, MA
01/24/78*
 Manhattan W 69-63  12-4
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
01/28/78*
 Villanova W 65-64  13-4
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
01/30/78*
 Davidson W 79-67  14-4
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
02/02/78*
 Cincinnati W 75-66  15-4
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
02/11/78*
 Duquesne W 84-69  16-4
 Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
02/15/78*
 at Temple L 65-75  16-5
 The Palestra 
Philadelphia, PA
02/18/78*
 No. 16 Syracuse L 65-77  16-6
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
02/23/78*
 St. Joseph's W 79-57  17-6
 Alumni Hall 
Queens, NY
02/25/78*
 at No. 11 Providence W 60-51  18-6
 Providence Civic Center 
Providence, RI
02/27/78*
 at Niagara W 69-60  19-6
 Niagara Falls Convention Center 
Niagara Falls, NY
ECAC Metro tournament
03/02/78
 vs. Iona
ECAC Metro Semifinal 		W 83-80  20-6
 Nassau Coliseum 
Uniondale, NY
03/04/78
 vs. Army
ECAC Metro Final 		W 65-63  21-6
 Nassau Coliseum 
Uniondale, NY
NCAA tournament
03/12/78*
 vs. No. 12 Louisville
NCAA Regional Quarterfinal 		L 68-76  21-7
 Mabee Center 
Tulsa, OK
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round Pick Player NBA Club
1 12 George Johnson Milwaukee Bucks

References

  1. ^ "St. John 65, Army 63". Detroit Free Press. March 5, 1978. p. 12. Retrieved November 2, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.