St. John's basketball unveils Ring of Honor at Madison Square Garden
The St. John's Red Storm Ring of Honor displaying the names of former St. John’s legendary players is seen under the Knicks banners before a preseason men’s basketball game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
St. John’s newfound effort to embrace its storied basketball history is now in place at the Garden.
Fans who attended the Red Storm’s exhibition against Rutgers were the first to see it in place. The new installation of the planned “Ring of Honor” — the names of 10 St. John’s legends, including Lou Carnesecca, Chris Mullin, Walter Berry and Malik Sealy — is displayed on the facade of the 300-level seats.
St. John’s is working to schedule a game night this season when it will unveil Zuby Ejiofor’s name as the 11th member.
Coach Rick Pitino swayed the school administration to do it — and even told fans that the beloved 2026 Big East Player of the Year would be the next to be enshrined — and athletic director Ed Kull worked with Garden officials to get it in place. The others in the ring are Mark Jackson, Sonny Dove, Joe Lapchick, Alan Seiden, Tony Jackson and Dick McGuire.
Kull said the school is deliberating the possibility of retiring uniform numbers as its highest honor, even though some in the ring wore the same numbers and more recent players have worn them.
“It’s a little complicated,” Kull said.
St. John’s sought guidance on how to honor its past from Kenny Klein, the decorated media relations official who worked at Louisville and joined St. John’s during the 2025-26 season. Klein, a trusted Pitino confidant, died in June.
The team now wears a memorial patch on the left shoulder of its uniform and leaves a specially marked seat to Pitino’s left for every game.
“Not since 9/11 have I felt so sad . . . I cry all the time,” said Pitino, referring to the death of Billy Minardi, his brother-in-law, best friend and classmate at St. Dominic High in Oyster Bay who died in the terrorist attacks. “So we’ll keep honoring him.”
Pitino coaxed Klein out of retirement and said, “To coerce him into staying, I said, ‘Kenny, I will coach until you leave’ . . . and he kept saying ‘OK.’ ”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
