New York braces for big Selection Sunday with St. John’s, Hofstra and LIU to learn NCAA Tournament draws
This is set to be a significant Big Dance for the Big Apple — and not just because of St. John’s .
Hofstra and Long Island University are also returning to the NCAA Tournament and, like the Johnnies, will learn their seed and first-round draw on Sunday evening, or “Selection Sunday.”
It’s been a long wait for Hofstra, which last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2001, and for LIU, which hasn’t been there since 2018.
“This moment is so surreal,” Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton said after clinching a berth. “It means so much to myself, this program, this university.”
Hofstra earned an automatic NCAA Tournament bid by winning the Coastal Athletic Association tournament championship on Tuesday.
It’s the fifth-ever March Madness berth for the Pride, who have been coached by Claxton — a Hofstra alum and seven-year NBA point guard — since 2021.
Hofstra is 105-62 in five seasons under Claxton, including 24-10 this year. It defeated Monmouth, 75-69, in the CAA tournament final.
As of Saturday, ESPN and CBS Sports both projected Hofstra to be a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament and to face No. 4 Alabama in the first round.
“I couldn’t be happier for these kids, man,” Claxton said. “This is a moment they’re going to share for a lifetime.”
LIU, meanwhile, claimed its automatic bid by winning the Northeast Conference Tournament with a 79-70 victory over Mercyhurst in Tuesday’s final.
This is LIU’s fourth season under Bronx-born head coach Rod Strickland, a former Knicks first-round pick. The 17-year NBA guard played parts of two seasons with the Knicks from 1988-90.
LIU has improved its win total every season under Strickland, going from 3-26 in year one to 24-10 this year. The Sharks won the conference’s regular-season championship this year.
This is set to be the Sharks’ eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN projected LIU to be a No. 15 seed and to open the tournament against No. 2 Houston. CBS projected LIU to be a No. 16 seed and to face No. 1 Duke in the first round.
“It’s been amazing just to think about where we’ve come from, where I’ve come from, since I’ve been here,” Strickland told KnicksFanTV in a recent interview.
And then there’s St. John’s, which is set to appear in the NCAA Tournament in consecutive years for the first time since the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.
After missing out on March Madness in their first year under head coach Rick Pitino in 2023-24, the Red Storm have won back-to-back Big East regular-season championships.
They were a No. 2 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Arkansas in the second round.
Entering Saturday night’s Big East Tournament final against UConn at Madison Square Garden, St. John’s was projected by both ESPN and CBS to be a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN pegged the Johnnies to open the NCAA Tournament against No. 12 McNeese State in the West Region, while CBS envisioned a first-round meeting with No. 12 Akron in the East Region.
“What [the players] don’t realize is that St. John’s in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s dominated the East Coast,” Pitino said Friday. “It was a dominant basketball team. From [Joe] Lapchick to [Lou] Carnesecca, they dominated. And then they went into hibernation like a bear for a while. And then these guys got them out of hibernation.”
