Fade to Black....
One thing is for sure and it can never be taken away ... I have a lot of great memories of St. John's basketball.
It was March of 1983 and former NBA Asst. Supervisor of Officials, Cecil Watkins, had a single ticket left under my name at MSG's window 7. It was a third row, courtside, the same seat that I had yesterday, believe it or not.
The BIG EAST tournament, previously held in Providence, Syracuse and Hartford, had moved to a new home at New York's Madison Square Garden. It was the beginning of the incredible rise to become among the very best basketball conferences in the land, college basketball's elite - alongside the ACC, the Big 10 and the PAC 10.
The 1983 tournament was 'memorialized' by a Sports Illustrated cover, featuring Billy Goodwin sitting atop the rim with his "We Are St. John's" poster held high for all the fans in Madison Square Garden to see.
In 1983, St. John's had a very strong basketball program.
Fast foward to March, 1986.
I sat in pretty good "Red" seats alongside my brother, Tom. I can remember the fact St. John's limped into the tournament that year under the microscope of the NCAA and BIG EAST, as reserve center Marco Baldi was under investigation for playing sumemrtime ball his club team, Tracer Milan.
Marco had to take a one-game suspension, if I remember correctly, but it blew over and he re-joined the team and played in the title game.
That 1986 title was special. Syracuse, with Pearl Washington and Rony Seikaly, had knocked off Georgetown. St. John's went 30-4 to march to the BIG EAST title and the NCAAs with Walter Berry and Mark Jackson leading the way for lovable Louie Carnesecca.
in 1986, St. John's had a basketball program on top of the world. Ron Rowan, a transfer student who had started at Notre Dame, hit the winner and Washington drove the length of the court like lightening, only to have his buzzer-beating attempt blocked by Walter Berry, the '86 college basketball player of the year.
To bring back some memories, here is the NY Times game story, written back in '86 by then-college basketball scribe, William Rhoden, now an accomplished sports columnist for the NYT.
BIG EAST; ST. JOHN'S RALLIES TO WIN CHAMPIONSHIP, 70-69
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
St. John's, down by as many as 13 points in the second half, began a furious rally with 16 minutes left that ended when Ron Rowan hit a 14-foot jumper with 8 seconds remaining last night at Madison Square Garden.
Rowan's shot lifted the Redmen to a 70-69 victory over Syracuse and brought St. John's its second Big East tournament championship in four years. Walter Berry sealed the victory by blocking Dwayne Washington's shot off a drive with three seconds left.
''I knew it was in when I shot it,'' said Rowan, who finished with 13 points.
''There's nothing to compare to this - winning the Big East championship in Madison Square Garden for someone like me from a small town -it feels great.''
The game was a fitting tribute to a team that has distinguished itself by outstanding achievement through 34 games this season, including 16 in the Big East regular schedule and three in this tournament.
St. John's raised its record to 30-4 and earned an automatic berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. The Redmen will probably be the top-seeded team in one of the four regions when the 64-team field is announced today. Syracuse (25-5), which shared the regular season Big East title with St. John's on 14-2 records, is assured of receiving an invitation.
St. John's had been routed in the first half last night, run ragged and rattled by a Syracuse team that seemed as if it couldn't miss. The Orangemen made 73 percent of their shots and led by 11 points at the half. But the next 20 minutes were unbelievable - for both teams.
Even though they trailed by as many as 13 points, the Redmen kept their composure and outscored Syracuse by 15-6 to begin the second half and pull to 45-43. The Redmen still trailed by a point with 32 seconds left but found themselves with the ball with 21 seconds left, trailing 69-68.
Then Rowan hit a 14-foot lean-in jumper with eight seconds left to give the Redmen their first lead, and apparently the Big East Championship. But there was one final drama. Eight seconds is an eternity for a player like Washington. He rocketed downcourt with the inbounds pass and was three feet from the basket with three seconds left. He juked right then went left and shot. But Berry streaked over from the weak side, blocked Washington's shot and kept it on the floor as the buzzer sounded.
It was a satisfying end to a frustrating night for Berry, the Redmen's best scorer. His powerful inside game on offense was nullified by the Syracuse frontline. Frustrated by taller defenders, he was held to 16 points.
''I was just moving guys out the way trying to get in position to block the shot,'' Berry said of the final shot by Washington. ''I knew he was going left, there was no doubt in my mind. He always makes you think he's going right, but he goes left.''
Washington said he saw Berry. ''He looked like he was a long way away,'' Washington said. ''He got it; it was a clean block.''
Washington scored a game-high 20 points, handed out a game-high 14 assists and earned the tournament's most valuable player award. But he was disconsolate afterward. Aside from having the final shot blocked, he also missed a critical one-and-one opportunity when Syracuse held a 1-point lead late in the game.
''I'd rather have the win,'' Washington said.
Mark Jackson, the St. John's point guard who had just 2 points in the first half, made 4 of 7 shots from the floor in the second and finished with 10 points. He also handed out 9 assists to break the N.C.A.A. season record. Jackson now has 311, two more than Houston's Reid Gettys had in the 1984-85 season.
Willie Glass scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, but the player that broke Syracuse's back was an unlikely one, Marco Baldi.
The 6-10 freshman, who is a foul-prone player who lacks finesse, entered the game with 6:08 left after Berry picked up his fourth foul.
Baldi, who was left all alone by a defense intent on stopping Berry, hit a jumper to make it 61-57. After a basket by Syracuse, Baldi, a 52 percent foul shooter, drew a foul and made both shots to make it 63-59.
His biggest contribution came with 4:09 left when he blocked out after a Rafael Addison miss and forced Rony Seikaly, the Syracuse center, to climb over his back. The foul was the fifth for Seikaly, who had been punishing the Redmen with a strong inside game. Seikaly finished with 16 points.
Baldi then converted two more free throws to make it 63-61.
''When I saw that they were leaving me alone, I just looked up and said 'thanks,' '' Baldi said. ''We needed a big body to stop their big guy,'' Carnesecca said when asked why he went with Baldi over Shelton Jones. ''Seikaly was killing us inside, we matched up, went man to man, overplayed,'' Carnesecca said. ''Nothing worked.'' After Washington hit to make it 65-61, Berry turned in a 3-point play on an alley-oop pass from Jackson that made it 65-64 with 3:22 left. Washington answered with another jumper, the teams exchanged misses and Rowan hit a jumper off the break to make it 67-66.
Washington made a pair of free throws, Glass made a pair, then Washington missed the free throw leading up to Rowan's clutch shot.
When Syracuse had its final chance, it was out of timeouts, and Coach Jim Boeheim could not develop a set play. He took his last timeout with 6:20 left when Syracuse was leading, 59-55.
In 2000, St. John's upset UConn, 80-70, to win their last BIG EAST title. The victory came behind an MVP performance by the one-and-only "Bootsy" Thornton. The team was coached by Mike Jarvis and the pieces began to fall apart soon after that glorious BIG EAST championship trophy was tucked into the trophy case in Jamaica Estates, Queens.
The first piece to fall? An early round upset at the hands of Gonzaga.
St. John's earned the #2 seed in the West that year, and as luck would have it, we had scheduled a spring break vacation for Phoenix, Arizona.
Selection Sunday came along and St. John's was send packing... to Tucson, Arizona.
They barely survived a first round match-up vs. Northern Arizona - the Dan McClintock-led Louie the Lumberjack squad. After the near-disaster of a 61-56 win, I arranged tickets for the second round game through the Phoenix Suns and we flew to Phoenix that Saturday morning, then bee-lined it to Tucson in time for the tip-off vs. Gonzaga. I remember calling my brother to tell him we were 'there,' staring straight at the big cactus on the floor of the McKale Center on the campus of the University of Arizona.
St. John's found itself in a real dog-fight that day, and I remember thinking that Eric Barkley was cramping up late in the game. I wondered why? I questioned his conditioning.
They lost, 82-76, to the #10 seed Zags, who eventually lost to the #6 seed Purdue Boilermakers coached by Gene Keady.
The end of the era was near.
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