St. John's University Athletics
A Message From Ed Kull
2/18/2026 4:26:00 PM | General
My fellow Johnnies,
This is truly a special time to be a part of St. John's. With our men's and women's basketball teams winning 20 games in the same season for the first time in more than a decade, the magical moments provided this year at Madison Square Garden and Carnesecca Arena will last a lifetime. I thank you all for your continued support of our student-athletes and cannot wait to create more memorable experiences together as we head into March.
With just over a year leading the St. John's Athletic Department in the rearview mirror, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts on where we have been, where we are and where we need to be. Since arriving back on campus last fall, I have been fortunate enough to see both teams and individual student-athletes enjoy tremendous success on and off the fields of competition. In addition to our men's basketball team's incredible run to the BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament titles last year, we've also celebrated BIG EAST Championships in men's tennis and softball. We saw our men's soccer team earn its 23rd NCAA Tournament bid under legendary Head Coach Dave Masur. Student-athletes in golf and track & field qualified for individual NCAA Tournament competition. Women's Basketball Head Coach Joe Tartamella recorded his 250th win and our dance and cheer teams made the podium for the second straight year at the UDA and UCA National Championships in January.
In the classroom, our student-athletes continue to outperform the general student population. For the 2024-25 academic year, our student-athletes compiled a 3.58 GPA with 12 of our 17 teams turning in a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. Nine teams met or exceeded the NCAA average Graduation Success Rate for their respective sport with six teams (men's and women's fencing, women's tennis, women's golf, softball and volleyball) posting a GSR of 100%. As proud as we are of their athletic accomplishments, nothing is more important than preparing our student-athletes for what lies ahead after graduation.
Like so many of you, I have taken tremendous joy in watching our men's and women's basketball teams play this season. Currently in position for a bye in the BIG EAST Tournament, our women's team has just three regular season games remaining, including the program's first-ever standalone game at Madison Square Garden against the Connecticut Huskies on March 1. We hope to see you all there as our ladies make history in The World's Most Famous Arena.
The men's basketball team's 11-game winning streak has turned around the narrative of the season and recaptured the hearts of a city. The game against UConn on Feb. 6 netted 1.497 million viewers on FOX, the highest-rated game of the year on the network. It's been incredible to see Coach Pitino and his team rise in the national rankings through sheer determination and hard work. This team embodies everything that makes St. John's University great, and I cannot wait to see how far these Johnnies can be carried by their passion, hunger and drive.
While I have certainly tried to take some time and enjoy our triumphs in the moment, I am continually driven by the desire to make sure that our success can be sustained over the coming months and years. The landscape of college athletics has never been more uncertain than it is right now, but I firmly believe that we have the right people in place across all levels of University leadership to ensure that we will continue our upward trajectory.
The future will only remain bright, however, if we can secure the resources to compete with the nation's best. Our administration has been incredibly supportive of our efforts on this front. This past summer, we launched The Red Storm Legacy Investment Fund, allowing donors to contribute directly to revenue sharing efforts in institutional Name, Image and Likeness agreements for the first time. We enjoyed a record fundraising year to help offset the advent of revenue sharing thanks in large part to multiple matching gifts from some of our most loyal donors and an increase in donations resulting from our season-ticket reseat and the restructuring of our priority points list. We believe that we must fundraise at a high level to remain competitive and create a transparent culture of trust and shared ownership in our department.
This past fall, thanks in large part to a $25 million gift from Board of Trustees Chairman Bill Janetschek, we broke ground on a state-of-the-art training facility for our men's and women's basketball programs. Slated to open in the spring of 2027, this space will revolutionize how our teams prepare and help attract the next generation of St. John's stars.
The forthcoming men's and women's basketball building is not the only exciting addition to our facilities on the Queens campus. Cox Family Field at Belson Stadium, named in honor of University Trustee and three-year lacrosse captain Thomas Cox, was dedicated, cementing our lacrosse program's footprint on the space and ensuring that the stadium will remain one of the premier facilities in the region for both sports.
We are trending up in so many areas where we had been stagnant. Since 2022-23, our total ticket revenue is up by more than 300%. This season alone, our Madison Square Garden ticket revenue is up by roughly 46% year-over-year. We sold out our student-season ticket allotment in a matter of weeks. We are making sure that The World's Most Famous Arena is a home court to be feared in the BIG EAST.
We will continue to play as many games at The Mecca as we can to maximize both program prestige and ticket revenue. Our 12 regular season games at MSG this year are the most in more than 70 years and we intend to play at least that many in Midtown next year.
Our sponsorship revenue is also up more than 12% from last year and more than 50% from three years ago. We signed an exciting new partnership with adidas that has been terrific for both our bottom line and the day-to-day experience of our student-athletes and staff.
We must continue to invest in our student-athletes. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to our donors and season ticket holders, but we need to remain vigilant and do everything we can to grow our St. John's family.
While it is easy to get bogged down in wins and losses, it is important to remember that our work in the athletic department must first and foremost serve the overall mission of the University. Above all, we must help produce men and women of character and compassion who will go forth and live out the Vincentian values in their daily lives for decades to come.
I thank you all for joining us on this journey and I cannot wait to see what the next chapter holds for our beloved St. John's.
Go Johnnies!
Ed Kull
Vice President and Director of Athletics
This is truly a special time to be a part of St. John's. With our men's and women's basketball teams winning 20 games in the same season for the first time in more than a decade, the magical moments provided this year at Madison Square Garden and Carnesecca Arena will last a lifetime. I thank you all for your continued support of our student-athletes and cannot wait to create more memorable experiences together as we head into March.
With just over a year leading the St. John's Athletic Department in the rearview mirror, I wanted to share with you a few thoughts on where we have been, where we are and where we need to be. Since arriving back on campus last fall, I have been fortunate enough to see both teams and individual student-athletes enjoy tremendous success on and off the fields of competition. In addition to our men's basketball team's incredible run to the BIG EAST Regular Season and Tournament titles last year, we've also celebrated BIG EAST Championships in men's tennis and softball. We saw our men's soccer team earn its 23rd NCAA Tournament bid under legendary Head Coach Dave Masur. Student-athletes in golf and track & field qualified for individual NCAA Tournament competition. Women's Basketball Head Coach Joe Tartamella recorded his 250th win and our dance and cheer teams made the podium for the second straight year at the UDA and UCA National Championships in January.
In the classroom, our student-athletes continue to outperform the general student population. For the 2024-25 academic year, our student-athletes compiled a 3.58 GPA with 12 of our 17 teams turning in a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. Nine teams met or exceeded the NCAA average Graduation Success Rate for their respective sport with six teams (men's and women's fencing, women's tennis, women's golf, softball and volleyball) posting a GSR of 100%. As proud as we are of their athletic accomplishments, nothing is more important than preparing our student-athletes for what lies ahead after graduation.
Like so many of you, I have taken tremendous joy in watching our men's and women's basketball teams play this season. Currently in position for a bye in the BIG EAST Tournament, our women's team has just three regular season games remaining, including the program's first-ever standalone game at Madison Square Garden against the Connecticut Huskies on March 1. We hope to see you all there as our ladies make history in The World's Most Famous Arena.
The men's basketball team's 11-game winning streak has turned around the narrative of the season and recaptured the hearts of a city. The game against UConn on Feb. 6 netted 1.497 million viewers on FOX, the highest-rated game of the year on the network. It's been incredible to see Coach Pitino and his team rise in the national rankings through sheer determination and hard work. This team embodies everything that makes St. John's University great, and I cannot wait to see how far these Johnnies can be carried by their passion, hunger and drive.
While I have certainly tried to take some time and enjoy our triumphs in the moment, I am continually driven by the desire to make sure that our success can be sustained over the coming months and years. The landscape of college athletics has never been more uncertain than it is right now, but I firmly believe that we have the right people in place across all levels of University leadership to ensure that we will continue our upward trajectory.
The future will only remain bright, however, if we can secure the resources to compete with the nation's best. Our administration has been incredibly supportive of our efforts on this front. This past summer, we launched The Red Storm Legacy Investment Fund, allowing donors to contribute directly to revenue sharing efforts in institutional Name, Image and Likeness agreements for the first time. We enjoyed a record fundraising year to help offset the advent of revenue sharing thanks in large part to multiple matching gifts from some of our most loyal donors and an increase in donations resulting from our season-ticket reseat and the restructuring of our priority points list. We believe that we must fundraise at a high level to remain competitive and create a transparent culture of trust and shared ownership in our department.
This past fall, thanks in large part to a $25 million gift from Board of Trustees Chairman Bill Janetschek, we broke ground on a state-of-the-art training facility for our men's and women's basketball programs. Slated to open in the spring of 2027, this space will revolutionize how our teams prepare and help attract the next generation of St. John's stars.
The forthcoming men's and women's basketball building is not the only exciting addition to our facilities on the Queens campus. Cox Family Field at Belson Stadium, named in honor of University Trustee and three-year lacrosse captain Thomas Cox, was dedicated, cementing our lacrosse program's footprint on the space and ensuring that the stadium will remain one of the premier facilities in the region for both sports.
We are trending up in so many areas where we had been stagnant. Since 2022-23, our total ticket revenue is up by more than 300%. This season alone, our Madison Square Garden ticket revenue is up by roughly 46% year-over-year. We sold out our student-season ticket allotment in a matter of weeks. We are making sure that The World's Most Famous Arena is a home court to be feared in the BIG EAST.
We will continue to play as many games at The Mecca as we can to maximize both program prestige and ticket revenue. Our 12 regular season games at MSG this year are the most in more than 70 years and we intend to play at least that many in Midtown next year.
Our sponsorship revenue is also up more than 12% from last year and more than 50% from three years ago. We signed an exciting new partnership with adidas that has been terrific for both our bottom line and the day-to-day experience of our student-athletes and staff.
We must continue to invest in our student-athletes. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to our donors and season ticket holders, but we need to remain vigilant and do everything we can to grow our St. John's family.
While it is easy to get bogged down in wins and losses, it is important to remember that our work in the athletic department must first and foremost serve the overall mission of the University. Above all, we must help produce men and women of character and compassion who will go forth and live out the Vincentian values in their daily lives for decades to come.
I thank you all for joining us on this journey and I cannot wait to see what the next chapter holds for our beloved St. John's.
Go Johnnies!
Ed Kull
Vice President and Director of Athletics
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Tuesday, May 06
Met awards Recap
Friday, April 25
Community Mayors 2025
Thursday, April 24
Mass of Christian Burial for Luigi “Lou” P. Carnesecca
Friday, December 06