St. John’s University hosted their annual Tip-Off event Friday, Oct. 20 at Carnesecca Arena. On a night filled with free food, activities and performances, students packed the arena with anticipation of kicking off the 2023-24 Men’s and Women’s Basketball seasons.
The night began with performances by the St. John’s Cheer and Dance teams, followed by interactive games for the fans. The combination of the two, paired with music from DJ Zeke, got fans in the perfect mood for a night of Red Storm basketball.
The Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams alternated with walkout introductions. Each player walked out to a song of their choosing, which created an electric atmosphere inside Carnesecca Arena. The introductions concluded with speeches from head coaches Joe Tartamella and Rick Pitino.
“Last year, this event was the springboard for a historical year for our team,” Tartamella said. “We’ve got a game at [Madison Square] Garden, we’ve got a game at UBS [Arena], this is a huge year for our program.”
This year’s women’s roster has seen a considerable makeover, with four incoming transfers as well as four freshmen.
As “Rick” chants began to rain from the crowd, the hall of famer made his way onto the court floor.
“Kentucky students come up to me and say ‘Coach, that was the time of my life,’” Pitino said in reference to his eight year tenure with Kentucky. “Now, it’s your time.”
Pitino served as Kentucky’s head coach from 1989-97, delivering four Final Four appearances and one National Championship.
After cheers erupted from fans, the activities began.
For the first competition, both teams broke into groups for a game of knockout. Sophomore guard Skye Owen advanced to the finals for the women, while senior guard Daniss Jenkins advanced for the men. After Jenkins missed his opening shot, Owen hit the dagger to claim the victory for the women.
The second competition was a three point contest, which was also broken up into teams. Redshirt senior guard Unique Drake and freshman Brady Dunlap were up first, finishing with a score of 17. Sophomore guard Jailah Donald and senior guard Naheim Alleyne followed, also posting a score of 17. The contest came down to a tie-breaker, where each contestant received one half court shot to win. Donald drilled her first attempt, securing the victory for herself and Alleyne.
Following the three point contest, the University hosted more interactive games for fans. These included a game of horse, with a Tartamella and Pitino autographed ball as the prize, as well as a half court shot for $10,000.
The games continued until about 8:45 p.m., when headliner 2 Chainz made his first appearance of the night.
The Grammy-award winning rapper made his return to St. John’s after over 11 years. In 2012, 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar headlined the University’s “Let the Beat Build” spring music festival. Over a decade later he was back in Queens, performing songs such as “Birthday Song,” “All Me,” “It’s a Vibe” and “No Lie”.
2 Chainz concluded his performance promoting his new album, which is set to release before the end of 2023.
St. John’s Women’s Basketball season begins on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in a home matchup with Long Island University. The men will start their season the following day in a 7 p.m. home matchup with Stony Brook. Both games will be played at Carnesecca Arena.
