From “Church Bells,” to “Coke Butter Cheese,” St. John’s had several national moments scattered around the internet. Now, just weeks after the season, a roster with promise has exploded — giving the Johnnies just four confirmed returning players. It’s the new world of college basketball, dread it, run from it, nothing will change the direction of the beloved sport.
Look at it from the shoes of a coach, losing an entire roster while having just two weeks to quickly find replacements. In the shoes of an athletic director, scheduling visits, meeting with donors and alumni to potentially raise their program’s budget to build a team, it’s become an all-out warzone.
To the credit of St. John’s Athletic Director Ed Kull, the Red Storm program has successfully survived three years in this new era, building two-straight rosters that completed program history, winning back-to-back Big East tournament titles for the first time in program history. There’s many important aspects that go into recruiting, budgeting and managing a school’s athletic programs — here’s the world of college sports, through the eyes of Kull.
The World of NIL
Name, image and likeness. Just a decade ago, players couldn’t even make money from YouTube videos, doing side gigs like nails or playing music. Now, in 2026, players not only can do all the normal hobbies, but they now make salaries like professional athletes.
“It’s transactional,” said Ed Kull when asked how rosters are constructed. “It’s professional sports, I’ve been very public about it. It’s business, we have to focus on raising the best amount of money because we have to adapt to this new style of the portal.”
Each team has a budget, whether it’s $10 million, or $20 million donors and former alumni can donate to help fund a program. For St. John’s, there’s an advantage; not having a football program gives them the opportunity to provide even more funds to the basketball team.
Last season, the top prospect in AJ Dybantsa made roughly $4.1-$4.2 million to play for BYU, staying with the program for just one season before he declared for the NBA draft. For the Red Storm, their budget was spent last season prioritizing Bryce Hopkins and Ian Jackson, while restructuring their deal with Zuby Ejiofor to keep him in Queens.
Because of NIL, players feel the need to continuously seek out their options in the transfer portal, creating rough realities for programs, especially mid-major teams. A perfect example of this is New Mexico, coached by Richard Pitino from 2021 to 2025, featuring star college players like Donovan Dent and JT Toppin, along with Tru Washington, who now will join Xavier with Pitino for the upcoming season.
That goes perfectly into the next topic, the portal.
The Transfer Portal Travesty
“The portal is a crazy monster,” said Kull. “In a world where we were developed and raised, where we can’t speak to an individual or student on a different team, it would be tampering. Now, students have agents, who shop their clients to see their market.”
That’s right, college basketball is suddenly portraying qualities of a professional sports league. The second a season ends, players get on the phone with their program to inform them of their departure. Rivalries mean nothing these days, with players jumping within conference, creating heated rivalries between players and fans.
Bryce Hopkins is a perfect example of this, getting heat from the Providence fanbase due to his departure to Queens, leaving for more money, which is simply what drives players to different programs in today’s world.
It’ll be a rare sight to see a Cinderella run in March in the future. The days of the No. 13 seed pushing to the Elite Eight are relatively over. The commotion of portal season can be overwhelming to fanbases.
This year provides the perfect example, with close to 3,000 players entering their names in the portal, and counting. For the St. John’s fanbase, the program will see six players transfer, making it a tough pill to swallow.
“It’s a hard pill to swallow right now,” said Kull when asked about a program losing an impactful player. “It’s the nature of what we’re doing in this business, but it saddens me in terms of the purity and amateurism of what college athletics should be. I give Coach Pitino a ton of credit on this, finding high-quality individuals with outstanding characteristics, wanting to represent the university and the locker room.”
What students and fans can expect in 2026
Rick Pitino isn’t going anywhere. St. John’s will be atop the Big East yet again in 2026, no matter who they bring in to play. However, besides play, what can students and fans expect this upcoming season?
From t-shirt giveaways, to food vouchers at games, signs in the sea of red at MSG, students were offered an immersive gameday experience at any home game for the price of $125. An added bonus? If your student season ticket was scanned at each home game, you were entered into a raffle automatically for a chance to earn a trip to the Sweet 16 game, being provided with a room and a bus ride to Washington, D.C.
“Being able to attend the Sweet 16 felt like a dream come true,” said sophomore Erin Daur. “I think St. John’s should continue providing opportunities like this whenever possible. It gives students a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity while filling a stadium with enthusiastic fans.”
Who could’ve imagined a world where St. John’s fans out-populated Duke, the largest basketball fanbase in the country at a Sweet 16 game? That’s the current National pull the Johnnies have right now.
“Students in our college landscape represent the school and the whole experience,” said Kull. “ The end zones being loud and noisy during free throws, holding signs, inflatables or fat heads, it causes a great atmosphere in college basketball. Our alums get a kick out of that. When they see the next generation of students going crazy for the Johnnies, it portrays the memory of their experience in the 80s and 90s.”
St. John’s has won a total of 61 games over the last two seasons alone, going 33-2 in front of the passionate fanbase. In 2026-27, students can expect to pay a similar price for their tickets, with more in-game festivities expected to join the traditions already created by Johnnies nation.
Whether it’s going to Stout to meet up before a Saturday afternoon game or participating in the half-court shot for $25,000, the Red Storm fanbase exemplifies its passion throughout New York City.
“We’re utilizing athletics and the basketball program to not only recruit the next wave of students to come to St. John’s, but also to make our alumni proud, our active students proud, and continue to build and educate who we are, what we do, and why this is a special place.”
