Several years back, James Riley asked to tour St. John’s Alumni Hall. In the bowels of the relic, which was built in 1962, the prominent alumnus and university trustee turned a corner and stepped into nearly pitch-black darkness.
The only source of light was the flickering images of a soccer game being projected onto a cinder-block wall. The then-nationally third-ranked men’s soccer team was breaking down film in preparation for an upcoming opponent.
“I felt it here,” said Riley, patting his heart. “And I said to myself, ‘Something has to be done.’ ”
Riley put his money where his heart is. As reported exclusively in last week’s Post, St. John’s yesterday announced plans to build a new basketball practice facility with meeting rooms, coaches’ offices, locker rooms and weight-training areas for all varsity sports. The project will also include improvements to Alumni Hall.
No more film sessions in dark hallways. The $23 million project is expected to be completed by 2005, just in time for the unveiling of the new-and-bodacious Big East Conference, which will welcome stalwarts Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette and DePaul.
“Even if the Big East had stayed the same, we would have built a new facility; but because of what’s happened, it’s even more necessary,” said Father Donald Harrington, St. John’s president. “The Big East will be the best league in the country, and we expect to be there with the top programs.”
The Red Storm (1-2) last night played Hofstra (1-3) amid a growing sense on campus that the program is enduring a hard fall. The team already lost here to Fairfield, and faces a Duke team Saturday that will be looking to avenge last year’s loss at the Garden.
St. John’s, trying to transform itself from a commuter school into a university with international appeal, is also planning significant improvements for Alumni Hall. Since the school opened its first dorms in 1999, applications are up 111 percent. But the basketball team, 1-2 in NCAA play, is down.
Coach Mike Jarvis has attributed the program’s decline in part to aging facilities and a small athletic budget. Certainly it’s a disadvantage for St. John’s to have to practice at nearby prep schools – and while other programs charter their own jets, the Red Storm still fly commercial.
“When you look at what some other schools have, it’s hard not to get a little jealous,” said guard Andre Stanley.
Oh yes. The soccer team plays Creighton Friday night at new Belson Stadium for the right to go to the Final Four.
