1979–80 St. John's Redmen basketball team

1979–80 St. John's Redmen men's basketball
1979–80 St. John's Redmen men's basketball
Lapchick Memorial Champions; ECAC Holiday Festival Champions; Big East Regular Season Co-Champions
1980 NCAA tournament, Second Round
Conference	Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 13
Record	24–5 (5–1 Big East)
Head coach	Lou Carnesecca ;
Assistant coaches	Carmine Calzonetti; Ron Rutledge;
Captains	Reggie Carter ; Bernard Rencher;
Home arena	Alumni Hall ; Madison Square Garden
	Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

Last updated October 20, 2025

1979–80 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 6 Syracuse	5	–	1	.833	26	–	4	.867
No. 13 St. John's	5	–	1	.833	24	–	5	.828
No. 11 Georgetown†	5	–	1	.833	26	–	6	.813
Connecticut	3	–	3	.500	20	–	9	.690
Boston College	2	–	4	.333	19	–	10	.655
Seton Hall	1	–	5	.167	14	–	13	.519
Providence	0	–	6	.000	11	–	16	.407

† 1980 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll ^[1]

The 1979–80 St. John's Redmen basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Lou Carnesecca in his 12th 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.

Roster

1979–80 St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	-	Ray James	6 ft 7 in(2.01 m)	—	So	Alexander Hamilton	Brooklyn, NY
G	-	Ed Kennedy	5 ft 9 in(1.75 m)	—	Sr	Maria Regina	Merrick, NY
G/F	-	Curtis Redding	6 ft 5 in(1.96 m)	—	RS Jr	Canarsie/Kansas State	Brooklyn, NY
G	4	George Garrison	6 ft 0 in(1.83 m)	—	Fr	Bellport	Bellport, NY
G	5	Bernard Rencher (C)	6 ft 1 in(1.85 m)	—	RS Sr	Mater Christi/Notre Dame	Elmhurst, NY
F	11	David Russell	6 ft 7 in(2.01 m)	215 lb(98 kg)	Fr	Bellport	Bellport, NY
G	12	Kevin Williams	6 ft 2 in(1.88 m)	175 lb(79 kg)	Fr	Charles E. Hughes	New York, NY
G	21	Larry Washington	6 ft 0 in(1.83 m)	160 lb(73 kg)	Jr	Canarsie/Texas Tech	Brooklyn, NY
G/F	22	Ron Plair	6 ft 4 in(1.93 m)	—	Jr	William C. Bryant	East Elmhurst, NY
F/C	32	Trevor Jackson	6 ft 8 in(2.03 m)	—	Fr	Springfield Gardens	Rosedale, NY
G	35	Reggie Carter (C)	6 ft 3 in(1.91 m)	—	RS Sr	Long Island Lutheran/Hawaii	New York, NY
F	43	Frank Gilroy	6 ft 6 in(1.98 m)	—	Jr	Holy Cross	Whitesone, NY
G/F	44	Tim Cluess	6 ft 6 in(1.98 m)	—	So	St. Agnes	West Hempstead, NY
C	55	Wayne McKoy	6 ft 9 in(2.06 m)	235 lb(107 kg)	Jr	Long Island Lutheran	Bayside, NY

Head coach

Lou Carnesecca (St. John's, '50)

Assistant coach(es)

Carmine Calzonetti
Ron Rutledge

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
11/30/79*	No. 16	Oral Roberts Lapchick Tournament Opening Round	W 90-78	1-0	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/01/79*	No. 16	Michigan State Lapchick Tournament Championship	W 88-73	2-0	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/04/79*	No. 9	at Tennessee	L 80-97	2-1	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, TN
12/08/79*	No. 9	Army	W 84-61	3-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/11/79*	No. 15	Columbia	W 91-75	4-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/15/79*	No. 15	at Rutgers	W 75-64	5-1	Rutgers Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ
12/23/79*	No. 15	Centenary (LA)	W 92-72	6-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
12/26/79*	No. 15	vs. Lafayette ECAC Holiday Festival Semifinal	W 68-58	7-1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
12/28/79*	No. 15	vs. Boston College ECAC Holiday Festival Championship	W 78-70	8-1	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
01/05/80	No. 17	Connecticut	W 83-73	9-1 (1-0)	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
01/08/80*	No. 14	at Princeton	W 44-42	10-1	Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, NJ
01/12/80	No. 14	Seton Hall	W 97-64	11-1 (2-0)	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
01/14/80*	No. 14	St. Joseph's	W 72-55	12-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
01/16/80	No. 10	at Boston College	W 66-63	13-1 (3-0)	Roberts Center Chestnut Hill, MA
01/19/80	No. 10	at Georgetown	W 71-69	14-1 (4-0)	McDonough Gymnasium Washington, D.C.
01/22/80*	No. 9	Manhattan	W 88-64	15-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
01/24/80*	No. 9	Davidson	W 67-48	16-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
01/26/80	No. 9	Villanova	W 81-75	17-1	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
01/28/80*	No. 9	at Niagara	W 87-63	18-1	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, NY
02/01/80*	No. 9	at Rhode Island	W 64-63	19-1	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, RI
02/03/80*	No. 9	No. 7 Louisville	L 71-76	19-2	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/05/80*	No. 8	Baltimore	W 89-73	20-2	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/09/80*	No. 8	Fordham	W 78-60	21-2	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/16/80	No. 7	No. 2 Syracuse	L 71-72	21-3 (4-1)	Alumni Hall Queens, NY
02/19/80*	No. 7	at Temple	W 63-58 ^OT	22-3	The Palestra Philadelphia, PA
02/23/80	No. 7	at Providence	W 68-62	23-3 (5-1)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Big East tournament
02/28/80	No. 8	at Providence Big East tournament quarterfinal	W 48-44	24-3	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
02/29/80	No. 8	vs. No. 20 Georgetown Big East tournament semifinal	L 66-76	24-4	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
NCAA tournament
03/08/80*	No. 13	at No. 20 (6) Purdue NCAA Second Round	L 72-87	24-5	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
6	120	Bernard Rencher	Chicago Bulls

References

↑ sports-reference.com 1979-80 Big East Conference Season Summary

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[1] sports-reference.com 1979-80 Big East Conference Season Summary

[1]

v t e St. John's Red Storm men's basketball
Venues	Old Madison Square Garden (193?–1969) Madison Square Garden (1969–present) Carnesecca Arena (alternate; 1961–present)
Rivalries	Fordham Georgetown
Culture & lore	Gambling scandal Johnny Thunderbird
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

1979–80 St. John's Redmen men's basketball
Lapchick Memorial Champions ECAC Holiday Festival Champions Big East Regular Season Co-Champions
1980 NCAA tournament, Second Round
Conference	Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 13
Record	24–5 (5–1 Big East)
Head coach	Lou Carnesecca
Assistant coaches	Carmine Calzonetti Ron Rutledge
Captains	Reggie Carter Bernard Rencher
Home arena	Alumni Hall Madison Square Garden
Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

1979–80 St. John's Redmen basketball team

Contents

Roster

Schedule and results

Team players drafted into the NBA

References