# 1961–62 St. John's Redmen basketball team

The 1961–62 St. John's Redmen basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1961–62 college basketball season. The team was coached by Joe Lapchick his seventeenth year at the school. This was St. John's first season playing their home games in Alumni Hall on the new Queens campus in Hillside, NY along with a few of their major games being played in Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.
They finished with a 21–5 record and a second-place finish in the 1962 National Invitation Tournament losing Dayton in the finals.

## Roster

| # | Name | Height | Position | Class | Hometown | Previous Team(s) |
| 10 | Donnie Burks | 5'11" | G | Jr. | New York, NY, U.S. | Archbishop Molloy HS |
| 11 | Bill O'Sullivan | 6'7" | F/C | Jr. | N/A | N/A |
| 20 | Willie Hall | 6'4" | G/F | Sr. | New York, NY, U.S. | Archbishop Molloy HS |
| 23 | Kevin Loughery (C) | 6'3" | G | RS Sr. | Bronx, NY, U.S. | Cardinal Hayes HS/Boston College |
| 25 | LeRoy Ellis | 6'11" | C | Sr. | Brooklyn, NY, U.S. | Thomas Jefferson HS |
| 30 | Fred Edelman (DNP) | 6'4" | G/F | Sr. | Queens, NY, U.S. | Forest Hills HS |
| 33 | Ivan Kovac | 5"11" | G | Sr. | Queens, NY, U.S. | Bayside HS |
| 34 | Walt Carroll | N/A | F | Jr. | N/A | N/A |
| 35 | Frank O'Hara | 5'9" | G | Jr. | Brooklyn, NY, U.S. | Most Holy Trinity HS |
| | Dan Waddleton | 5'11" | G | So. | Jersey City, NJ, U.S. | St. Michael's HS |
| | Ralph Passante | 6'3" | G/F | So. | North Bergen, NJ, U.S. | West New York Memorial HS |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| December 6, 1961* | No. 9 | George Washington First Game at Alumni Hall | W 79–65 | 1–0 | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| December 12, 1961* | No. 9 | Oklahoma | W 68–49 | 2–0 | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| December 15, 1961* | No. 9 | at Kansas Sunflower Doubleheader | W 64–59 | 3–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| December 16, 1961* | No. 9 | at No. 8 Kansas State Sunflower Doubleheader | L 50–63 | 3–1 | Ahearn Field House Manhattan, KS |
| December 20, 1961* | | Saint Joseph's | W 92–64 | 4–1 | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| December 26, 1961* | | vs. No. 2 Cincinnati ECAC Holiday Festival | L 68–97 | 4–2 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| December 28, 1961* | | vs. Dartmouth ECAC Holiday Festival | W 71–40 | 5–2 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| December 30, 1961* | | vs. NYU ECAC Holiday Festival | W 77–58 | 6–2 (1–0) | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| January 4, 1962* | | at Temple | L 51–52 | 6–3 | The Palestra Philadelphia, PA |
| January 6, 1962* | | Syracuse | W 84–55 | 7–3 | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| January 8, 1962* | | at Bridgeport | W 108–84 | 8–3 | Harvey Hubbell Gymnasium Bridgeport, CT |
| January 13, 1962* | | Creighton | W 72–52 | 9–3 | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| January 20, 1962 | | St. Francis (NY) | W 92–54 | 10–3 (2–0) | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| January 23, 1962* | | Canisius | W 81–68 | 11–3 | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| January 27, 1962* | | at Loyola (IL) | L 82–92 | 11–4 | Chicago Stadium Chicago, IL |
| January 29, 1962* | | at Notre Dame | W 78–72 $^{2OT}$ | 12–4 | Notre Dame Fieldhouse South Bend, IN |
| February 3, 1962* | | at Army | W 57–51 | 13–4 | USMA Fieldhouse West Point, NY |
| February 8, 1962* | | Villanova | W 79–66 | 14–4 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| February 10, 1962* | | at Niagara | W 67–66 $^{2OT}$ | 15–4 | NU Student Center Lewiston, NY |
| February 24, 1962 | | Fordham | W 76–60 | 16–4 (3–0) | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| March 3, 1962* | | Marquette | W 71–69 | 17–4 | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| March 8, 1962 | | vs. Manhattan | W 88–64 | 18–4 (4–0) | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| March 10, 1962 | | NYU | W 70–58 | 19–4 (5–0) | Alumni Hall Queens, NY |
| NIT ||||||
| March 20, 1962* | | vs. Holy Cross NIT Quarterfinal | W 80-74 | 20-4 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| March 22, 1962* | | vs. Duquesne NIT Semifinal | W 75-65 | 21-4 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| March 24, 1962* | | vs. Dayton NIT Championship | L 67-75 | 21-5 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||