Last time St. John's made Sweet 16: Revisiting 1999 March Madness run led by Ron Artest

Rick Pitino came to St. John's to bring a once-prominent New York program back to relevance. That part of his job is done.

Not only did the Red Storm win back-to-back Big East regular season and tournament titles under Pitino, but they secured a trip to the Sweet 16 in his third season with a buzzer-beating win over Kansas.

In a college basketball season full of familiar faces, St. John's earned its first Sweet 16 appearance in more than a quarter-century and put itself two wins away from a trip to Indianapolis for the Final Four.

Here's a look back at the most recent St. John's run to the Sweet 16, which included a future NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

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Last time St. John's made Sweet 16

Before 2026, St. John’s most recent Sweet 16 appearance came in 1999, long before Rick Pitino arrived and before anyone on the Johnnies’ 2026 roster was born. With a new coach and expectations of a deeper NCAA Tournament run than the previous season — which ended with a first-round loss as a No. 7 seed — St. John’s entered the 1999 tournament as a No. 3 seed with a 24-8 record. The Red Storm lost the Big East Tournament championship game to UConn, but that didn’t slow the team when the Big Dance began.

St. John’s cruised to blowout wins over No. 14 Samford and No. 6 Indiana before holding No. 2 Maryland to 62 points in the Sweet 16. That victory left the Johnnies one win away from their first trip to the Final Four in 14 years, but they instead suffered a 77-74 loss to Michael Redd and Ohio State in the Elite Eight.

Three players started all 37 games for St. John’s: Bootsy Thornton, Erick Barkley and Ron Artest, who later changed his name to Metta World Peace. Thornton led the team in scoring, but Artest was a two-way star, averaging 14.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.

Freshman Barkley scored 24 points in the Red Storm’s Sweet 16 win, while junior forward Lavor Postell had 24 points in the Elite Eight loss.

The run didn’t end the way St. John’s envisioned, but it remains tied for the program’s deepest NCAA Tournament run outside of 1952 and 1985.

MORE: Inside career timeline for St. John's coach Rick Pitino

1999 St. John's basketball roster

Here's a look at St. John's full roster for the 1998-99 season:

MORE: Watch Dylan Darling's buzzer beater to send St. John's to Sweet 16

Who coached St. John's in 1999?

St. John’s had a first-year head coach in 1999, as Mike Jarvis replaced Fran Fraschilla prior to the season. Fraschilla spent only two seasons in Queens and was fired two months after the 1997–98 season ended, which he later attributed to friction with the administration and the school’s frustration over his decision to explore other head coaching opportunities.

Jarvis was hired away from George Washington, where he led the Colonials to the NCAA Tournament four times in eight years.

The Johnnies’ 1999 run under Jarvis couldn’t be repeated. They won the 2000 Big East Tournament but lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and returned to the tournament only once for the remainder of Jarvis’ tenure. He was fired six games into the 2003–04 season due to a combination of a poor start and off-court incidents involving players. The NCAA later found recruiting violations and vacated Jarvis’ wins from the 2000–01 season onward.

Jarvis’ only head coaching stint after St. John’s came at FAU, where he won one Sun Belt regular season title in six seasons but never reached the NCAA Tournament.

MORE: How Darryn Peterson, Kansas failed to solve St. John's defense

St. John's 1999 March Madness run

Here's a look at each game during St. John's tournament run in 1999.

First round: No. 3 St. John's 69, No. 14 Samford 43

TAAC (now Atlantic Sun) champion Samford stood no chance against St. John's, scoring only 43 points in a blowout loss to the No. 3 seed. Artest enjoyed his best offensive game of the tournament, finishing with 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks, while Barkley had three steals in the victory. Samford shot only 25 percent from the field. 

Second round: No. 3 St. John's 86, No. 6 Indiana 61

Just about everyone contributed for St. John's in a blowout win over No. 6 Indiana in the second round, as all five Red Storm starters scored in double figures. Tyrone Grant stepped up with 14 points, 12 rebounds and three steals, while Lavor Postell had 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in the win. St. John's shot 10-of-20 from 3-point range while Indiana's bench was just 5-of-19 from the field.

Notably, future NFL wide receiver Antwaan Randle El entered the game for four minutes. It was also the second-to-last NCAA Tournament game for Bob Knight at Indiana, as the legendary coach saw his tenure with the Hoosiers end in 2000.

Sweet 16: No. 3 St. John's 76, No. 2 Maryland 62

With Maryland as a slight favorite, St. John's entered the Sweet 16 with something to prove and did just that, outscoring the Terrapins by 19 in the first half and rolling to a 76-62 win to advance to the Elite Eight. Barkley came up big with 24 points and nine rebounds, while a quiet offensive day for Artest still saw him make an impact all over the floor with three steals and six blocks. All-American Steve Francis had a quiet day for Maryland, scoring 13 points and shooting 5-of-13. 

Elite Eight: No. 4 Ohio State 77, No. 3 St. John's 74

St. John's allowed 41 points in the first half against No. 4 Ohio State in the Elite Eight but kept the game within reach in the second half and even had a chance to tie or take the lead at the end of regulation. Instead, Ohio State forced a turnover, sunk a free throw and pulled off a win to deny the Johnnies a trip to the Final Four.

Postell led the way with 24 points and nine rebounds for St. John's, but Ohio State shot nearly 55 percent from the field and wasn't slowed down enough in the second half for the Red Storm to pull back in front. St. John's has not been back to the Elite Eight since the loss.

"We should’ve been in the Final Four that year," Jarvis told the Queens Chronicle in 2019. "No doubt about it."