1997–98 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team

The 1997–98 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Fran Fraschilla in his second year at the school. St. John's home games are played at Alumni Hall and Madison Square Garden and the team is a member of the Big East Conference.

1997–98 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball
NCAA men's Division I tournament, first round
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	22–10 (13–5 Big East)
Head coach	Fran Fraschilla (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Tom Billeter Ron Rutledge Darren Savino
Captains	Tarik Turner Felipe Lopez Zendon Hamilton
Home arena	Alumni Hall Madison Square Garden
Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

1997–98 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Big East 6
No. 6 Connecticut†	15	–	3		.833			32	–	5		.865
St. John's	13	–	5		.722			22	–	10		.688
West Virginia	11	–	7		.611			24	–	9		.727
Villanova	8	–	10		.444			12	–	17		.414
Notre Dame	7	–	11		.389			13	–	14		.481
Boston College	6	–	12		.333			15	–	16		.484
Big East 7
No. 21 Syracuse	12	–	6		.667			26	–	9		.743
Miami	11	–	7		.611			18	–	10		.643
Seton Hall	9	–	9		.500			15	–	15		.500
Providence	7	–	11		.389			13	–	16		.448
Pittsburgh	6	–	12		.333			11	–	16		.407
Rutgers	6	–	12		.333			14	–	15		.483
Georgetown	6	–	12		.333			16	–	15		.516
† 1998 Big East tournament winner As of March 30, 1998[1][2][3] Rankings from AP poll

Off season

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Ed Brown	14	F	6'8"	RS Freshman	Copiague, New York	Transferred to Rhode Island
Mike Menniefield	21	F/C	6'8"	Senior	Greenville, South Carolina	Graduated
Charles Minlend	34	F	6'6"	RS Senior	Cameroon, Africa	Graduated

Class of 1997 signees

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Ron Artest SF	Queensbridge, NY	La Salle Academy	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Reggie Jessie SF	Queensbridge, NY	Bishop Loughlin High School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Shannon Crooks PG	Boston, MA	Everett High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
James Felton PF	Bayonne, NJ	Marist High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Milos Dumic C	Bijeljina, Yugoslavia	St. Joseph by the Sea High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: No ratings found
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "1997 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

1997–98 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
\ Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 3 Chudney Gray 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So Rice Bronx, NY G 4 Tarik Turner (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Sr Oak Hill Charlottesville, VA G 10 Kareem Syed (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So Hillcrest Queens, NY G 11 Collin Charles 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) — So Eastern Commerce Toronto, Ontario G 13 Felipe López (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Sr Rice Santo Domingo, D.R. G/F 15 Ron Artest 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Fr La Salle Queensbridge, NY F/C 21 Milos Dumic 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) — Fr St. Joseph by the Sea (NY) Bijeljina, Yugoslavia F 24 Giovanni Soto (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Sr Park West Far Rockaway, NY G/F 25 Lavor Postell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So Westover Albany, GA G 30 Shannon Crooks 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Fr Everett Everett, MA C 31 Zendon Hamilton (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) — Sr Sewanhaka Floral Park, NY F 32 Tyrone Grant 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Jr Grady Brooklyn, NY G/F 41 Reggie Jessie 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Fr Bishop Loughlin Queensbridge, NY F James Felton 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Fr Marist HS (NJ) Bayonne, NJ	Head coach Fran Fraschilla (Brooklyn College, '80) Assistant coach(es) Tom Billeter (Illinois, '83) Ron Rutledge (St. John's, '84) Darren Savino (Jersey City State, '93) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
11/15/97*		Lafayette	W 72-49	1-0	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
11/22/97*		St. Francis (N.Y.)	W 83-73	2-0	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
11/27/97*		vs. AUPR Puerto Rico Shootout Opening Round	W 93-81	3-0	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, PR
11/28/97*		vs. Georgia Tech Puerto Rico Shootout Semifinal	L 65-77	3-1	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, PR
11/29/97*		vs. Illinois Puerto Rico Shootout Consolation	W 83-66	4-1	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex  San Juan, PR
12/03/97		Syracuse	L 73-80	4-2 (0-1)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
12/06/97		at West Virginia	L 70-86	4-3 (0-2)	WVU Coliseum  Morgantown, WV
12/09/97*		Colgate	W 69-53	5-3 (0-2)	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
12/17/97*		at Manhattan	W 84-60	6-3 (0-2)	Draddy Gymnasium  New York, NY
12/20/97*		DePaul	W 74-70 2OT	7-3 (0-2)	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
12/26/97*		Niagara ECAC Holiday Festival Semifinal	L 63-86	7-4 (0-2)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
12/27/97*		Drexel ECAC Holiday Festival Consolation	W 75-46	8-4 (0-2)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
12/30/97		at Notre Dame	W 79-69	9-4 (1-2)	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
01/03/98		Seton Hall	L 59-61	9-5 (1-3)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
01/06/98*		at Louisville	L 67-73	9-6 (1-3)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
01/10/98		at Georgetown	W 66-60	10-6 (2-3)	MCI Center  Washington, D.C.
01/13/98		Miami (F.L.)	W 73-64	11-6 (3-3)	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
01/17/98		at Providence	W 63-56	12-6 (4-3)	Providence Civic Center  Providence, RI
01/19/98		No. 10 Connecticut	W 64-62	13-6 (5-3)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
01/22/98		at Pittsburgh	W 90-83 2OT	14-6 (6-3)	Fitzgerald Field House  Pittsburgh, PA
01/25/98		Villanova	W 82-59	15-6 (7-3)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
01/28/98		Rutgers	W 76-58	16-6 (8-3)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
01/31/98		Notre Dame	L 65-73	16-7 (8-4)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
02/04/98		at Boston College	W 91-79	17-7 (9-4)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Chestnut Hill, MA
02/07/98		No. 15 West Virginia	W 77-69	18-7 (10-4)	Alumni Hall  Queens, NY
02/15/98		at Seton Hall	W 64-60	19-7 (11-4)	Continental Airlines Arena  East Rutherford, NJ
02/18/98		Boston College	W 66-61	20-7 (12-4)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
02/24/98		at No. 23 Syracuse	W 67-65	21-7 (13-4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
02/28/98		at No. 6 Connecticut	L 58-87	21-8 (13-5)	Gampel Pavilion  Storrs, CT
Big East tournament
03/05/98		vs. Boston College Big East tournament quarterfinal	W 91-80	22-8 (13-5)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
03/06/98		vs. No. 22 Syracuse Big East tournament semifinal	L 67-69 OT	22-9 (13-5)	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
NCAA tournament
03/13/98	(7 MW)	vs. (10 MW) Detroit Mercy NCAA First Round	L 64-66	22-10 (13-5)	United Center  Chicago, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	24	Felipe Lopez	San Antonio Spurs traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies