The Red Storm Celebrates the Start of Basketball with Annual Tip-Off

On Friday night, St. John’s held their annual tip-off event at Carnesecca Arena for the entire school to celebrate the start of the Men and Women’s 2015-2016 basketball season. Each team entered the court with his or her own walk out songs, leading up to Chris Mullin’s first official walk out, as a coach, onto the court. The Men’s 2015 NCAA Tournament banner was also unveiled, followed by a scrimmage by then Men’s team, and a 3-point shooting contest involving both the men’s and women’s teams, as well as a couple of students. The university’s president, President Conrado “Bobby” Gempesaw, Ph. D., also made an appearance, when addressing the crowd before revealing he was the guest referee for the scrimmage.

This year’s entertainment was consumed with many contests, including a Qdoba eating contest to win a Qdoba buffet for 20 people, a shooting contest to win a 2016 Chevy Camaro, and the 3-point shooting contest to win free Arby’s for an entire section. The musical part of entertainment included DJ Zeke, a DJ who covers all St. John’s events, and popular Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller. Miller took the stage in a replica St. John’s Chris Mullin jersey, with his own name on his back and hyped up the crowd to finish the night off.

The official start of the 2015-2016 Men’s basketball season, and the beginning of the Mullin Era, begins November 13 when the Red Storm hosts Wagner at Carnesecca Arena. The Women’s team also opens their season on November 13 against UCLA at historic Pauley Pavilion.