Pitino still believes St. John’s can build homecourt advantage off campus

Rick Pitino addresses media at Big East media day in October. St. John’s head coach still believes homecourt advantage can be cultivated outside of Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden despite lackluster crowds so far this season. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

ELMONT, N.Y. — While Rick Pitino’s hire has brought a sufficient amount of buzz back to the St. John’s program this season, the response from the Red Storm’s fan base has been lukewarm at best through two months of the season.

St. John’s christened its third home court Saturday, hosting Hofstra inside UBS Arena for the first of three contests the Johnnies will hold at the home of the New York Islanders. And while the crowd of 7,486 that saw the Red Storm gut out an 84-79 victory is a respectable turnout on the penultimate day of the calendar year, it could be argued that the atmosphere resembled that of a neutral site at times, perhaps lending more to the close margin of victory than if the game were played on campus at Carnesecca Arena.

When he was hired in March, Pitino envisioned most of St. John’s games taking place in larger venues, as the Hall of Fame coach did not believe Carnesecca could adequately accommodate the brand of basketball he and his staff have begun to build. Two months into that task, he continued to emphasize the patience needed in resurrecting the once-proud brand.

“It’s much better than Barclays Center,” Pitino said of UBS, comparing it with the atmosphere in Brooklyn for St. John’s loss to Boston College on December 10. “Look, I’m not a complainer. I don’t complain about the portal, I don’t complain about the NIL. I could sit here and tell you I’d like to change 100 things at St. John’s because nothing’s been changed for 100 years. So that being said. Carnesecca is a big-time homecourt advantage, but the restrooms are terrible, there’s no concessions, so it’s difficult. We didn’t sell out against Xavier, we didn’t have anybody come at Barclays. We don’t have an abundance of fans, we’re not UConn or Villanova with fans, and there’s a reason.”

“We lost the brand. Looie’s been gone a long time. So we’ve gotta build the brand back, and people will come back. We’ve gotta change the facilities, we’ve gotta change everything. It takes time.”

Pitino went on to reveal in his postgame press conference that he is intending to play reigning national champion UConn at Carnesecca Arena next season. The Huskies have not visited the St. John’s campus for a men’s basketball game since January 2, 1990, when the building now named for the Red Storm’s all-time winningest coach was still known as Alumni Hall, with Carnesecca coaching against a then-fourth-year UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. UConn will play at Madison Square Garden for the fourth time this season when it visits St. John’s on February 3, and will likely have a majority in the crowd as it usually does when the Huskies take the court in midtown Manhattan.

“Right now, the only game that’s going to be played in Carnesecca is Connecticut,” Pitino reiterated. “Every other game, we’re going to negotiate.”

When asked by Zach Braziller of the New York Post whether that comment was meant in jest, Pitino doubled down, intimating his seriousness.

“Oh, 100 percent,” he said. “We’re playing them at Carnesecca. It’s definitely not a joke. I have my reasons.”

Home venues aside, St. John’s has announced sellouts of 5,602 for each of the four on-campus games so far this season, with crowds of 14,188 and 12,720 for the Madison Square Garden matchups with Michigan and Fordham, respectively. Pitino was not one to place blame on the arena, again stressing that the rebuild of the St. John’s brand and tradition is still in its infancy, and would attract a larger gathering in the future if all goes according to plan.

“I don’t think it’s the building,” he said. “I think (UBS is) a wonderful building, the Garden’s great, Barclays Center is terrific. The fans just don’t go there for some reason in college. I don’t think we have a magic bullet. I think there are a lot of things that have to improve, but it takes time.”