St. John's Red Storm Four takeaways from St. John’s Garden-heavy schedule By Zach Braziller Published Sep. 14, 2026, 11:00 a.m. ET St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino reacts on the baseline during the second half of a game against the Seton Hall Pirates in the Big East Tournament on Friday, March 13, 2026, at Madison Square Garden. Robert Sabo for NY Post On Monday morning, St. John’s released its complete schedule for the coming season.
Coming off a second consecutive Big East regular season and postseason titles, there are extremely high hopes for Rick Pitino’s program. The Johnnies added top transfers Tounde Yessoufou of Baylor and Keyshawn Hall of Auburn, returned key contributors Ruben Prey and Ian Jackson and brought in international prospects Quinn Ellis and Babacar Sane.
The Post’s Zach Braziller offers four takeaways on the slate:
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Including exhibitions against Texas and Rutgers, St. John’s has a whopping 14 Garden dates. That includes powerhouse Arizona — a national semifinalist last year — coming to the Garden on Dec. 5. All 10 league games are scheduled for MSG, which was something Pitino said he hoped to do at some point during his introductory press conference back in March of 2023. Last year, St. John’s played 13 games at MSG, which was its most in a season in the building’s current location, which dates back to 1968. It will surpass that number this winter. In the two years before Pitino’s arrival, St. John’s played just nine total games at the Garden. The non-conference game against Iona could make it 15, but the site of that game has yet to be determined.
