1968–69 St. John's Redmen basketball team

1968–69 St. John's Redmen men's basketball
1968–69 St. John's Redmen men's basketball
ECAC Holiday Festival, Second Place
1969 NCAA, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 8
AP	No. 8
Record	23–6
Head coach	Lou Carnesecca;
Assistant coach	John Kresse
Captain	John Warren; Carmine Calzonetti
Home arena	Alumni Hall; Madison Square Garden
	Seasons ← 1967–68 1969–70 →

1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 16 Boston College		–		–	24	–	4	.857
Rutgers		–		–	21	–	4	.840
No. 14 Marquette		–		–	24	–	5	.828
No. 12 New Mexico State		–		–	24	–	5	.828
No. 9 Duquesne		–		–	21	–	5	.808
No. 10 Villanova		–		–	21	–	5	.808
No. 8 St. John's		–		–	23	–	6	.793
Dayton		–		–	20	–	7	.741
No. 17 Notre Dame		–		–	20	–	7	.741
Seattle		–		–	20	–	8	.714
Colorado State		–		–	17	–	7	.708
Jacksonville		–		–	17	–	7	.708
St. Bonaventure		–		–	17	–	7	.708
Florida State		–		–	18	–	8	.692
West Texas State		–		–	18	–	8	.692
Holy Cross		–		–	16	–	8	.667
Oklahoma City		–		–	18	–	9	.667
Saint Francis (PA)		–		–	16	–	8	.667
Southern Illinois		–		–	16	–	8	.667
Fordham		–		–	17	–	9	.654
Army		–		–	18	–	10	.643
Texas Western		–		–	16	–	9	.640
Detroit		–		–	16	–	10	.615
Houston		–		–	16	–	10	.615
Penn State		–		–	13	–	9	.591
Boston University		–		–	14	–	10	.583
Miami (FL)		–		–	14	–	10	.583
Providence		–		–	14	–	10	.583
NYU		–		–	12	–	9	.571
DePaul		–		–	14	–	11	.560
Northern Illinois		–		–	13	–	11	.542
Virginia Tech		–		–	14	–	12	.538
Creighton		–		–	13	–	13	.500
Georgetown		–		–	12	–	12	.500
Hardin–Simmons		–		–	13	–	13	.500
Georgia Tech		–		–	12	–	13	.480
Tulane		–		–	12	–	14	.462
West Virginia		–		–	12	–	14	.462
Air Force		–		–	11	–	13	.458
Niagara		–		–	11	–	13	.458
Colgate		–		–	11	–	14	.440
Butler		–		–	11	–	15	.423
Loyola (IL)		–		–	9	–	14	.391
Fairfield		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Xavier		–		–	10	–	16	.385
Syracuse		–		–	9	–	16	.360
Utah State		–		–	9	–	17	.346
Centenary		–		–	9	–	18	.333
Navy		–		–	7	–	14	.333
Pan American		–		–	8	–	17	.320
Canisius		–		–	7	–	16	.304
St. Francis		–		–	7	–	16	.304
Loyola (LA)		–		–	5	–	19	.208
Pittsburgh		–		–	4	–	20	.167
Portland		–		–	3	–	23	.115
Denver		–		–	2	–	24	.077

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1968–69 St. John's Redmen basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team was coached by Lou Carnesecca in his fourth year at the school. St. John's home games were played at Alumni Hall and Madison Square Garden.

Roster

#	Name	Height	Position	Class	Hometown	Previous School(s)
5	Carmine Calzonetti	6'1"	G	SR	Audubon, NJ	Gloucester Catholic HS
10	Jim Smyth	6'5"	G/F	JR	Brooklyn, NY	St. John's Prep
11	Billy Paultz	6'11"	C	SO	River Edge, NJ	Cameron Junior College
15	Ralph Abraham	6'5"	F	JR	Brooklyn, NY	St. John's Prep
21	Richie Jackson	6'2"	G	SR	Lynbrook, NY	St. Agnes HS
24	Bill Phillips (DNP)	7'0"	C	SO	Hollis, NY	Jamaica HS
25	Pete LaMantia	6'3"	G	SO	Bayside, NY	Bishop Reilly HS
34	Richard Gilkes	6'6"	G/F	SO	Westbury, NY	Westbury HS
30	John Warren	6'3"	G	SR	Far Rockaway, NY	Far Rockaway HS
35	John DeVasto	6'0"	G	SO	Bronx, NY	Loyola School
44	Dan Cornelius	6'9"	F/C	SR	Wyandanch, NY	Wyandanch Memorial HS
55	Joe DePre	6'3"	G	JR	Westbury, NY	Westbury HS

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
12/03/68*		Roanoke	W 91-65	1-0	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/06/68*		at Duquesne Steel Bowl Tournament	L 62-72	1-1	Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA
12/07/68*		vs. Westminster Steel Bowl Tournament	W 96-65	2-1	Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA
12/10/68*		vs. St. Joseph's	W 64-61	3-1	The Palestra Philadelphia, PA
12/14/68*		Georgetown	W 74-61	4-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/18/68*		Providence	W 73-53	5-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/21/68*		Boston College	W 85-71	6-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/27/68*		Michigan State ECAC Holiday Festival	W 61-51	7-1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
12/28/68*		No. 2 North Carolina ECAC Holiday Festival	W 72-70	8-1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
12/30/68*		No. 1 UCLA ECAC Holiday Festival	L 56-74	8-2	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
01/04/69*	No. 17	at No. 2 Davidson	W 75-74	9-2	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
01/08/69*	No. 8	at Seton Hall	W 66-45	10-2	Walsh Gymnasium South Orange, NJ
01/13/69*	No. 8	at Virginia	W 77-61	11-2	University Hall Charlottesville, VA
01/18/69*	No. 6	West Virginia	W 91-62	12-2	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
01/25/69*	No. 6	St. Francis (NY)	W 71-55	13-2	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/01/69*	No. 6	Temple	W 65-48	14-2	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/04/69*	No. 5	at No. 8 Villanova	L 78-83 ^OT	14-3	Villanova Field House Villanova, PA
02/06/69*	No. 5	Rhode Island	W 73-46	15-3	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/08/69*	No. 5	at Army	W 64-43	16-3	USMA Fieldhouse West Point, NY
02/13/69*	No. 9	Niagara	W 97-60	17-3	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/15/69*	No. 9	vs. Fordham	W 51-46	18-3	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
02/19/69*	No. 7	at Syracuse	W 71-63	19-3	Manley Field House Syracuse, NY
02/22/69*	No. 7	Colgate	W 77-62	20-3	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/25/69*	No. 7	at Holy Cross	W 71-57	21-3	Worcester Auditorium Worcester, MA
02/27/69*	No. 7	vs. NYU	W 75-64	22-3	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
03/01/69*	No. 7	Notre Dame	L 67-71 ^OT	22-4	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
NCAA Tournament
03/08/69*	No. 8	vs. Princeton NCAA regional quarterfinal	W 72-63	23-4	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
03/13/69*	No. 8	vs. No. 5 Davidson NCAA regional semifinal	L 69-79	23-5	Cole Field House College Park, MD
03/15/69*	No. 8	vs. No. 9 Duquesne NCAA regional third-place game	L 72-74	23-6	Cole Field House College Park, MD
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	11	John Warren	New York Knicks

References

v t e St. John's Red Storm men's basketball
Venues	Old Madison Square Garden (193?–1969) Madison Square Garden (1969–present) Carnesecca Arena (alternate; 1961–present)
Rivalries	Fordham Georgetown
Culture & lore	Gambling scandal Johnny Thunderbird
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics