St. John’s beat writer rips Jeff Goodman over backhanded compliment

The St. John’s Red Storm find themselves squarely in the mix of being one of the best college basketball teams in the country this season in Year 2 under head coach Rick Pitino. But the Johnnies’ success is apparently a bit jarring for longtime college basketball analyst Jeff Goodman.

If you told a college basketball fan at the end of the 2023-24 season that a regular season tilt between the St. John’s Red Storm and the UConn Huskies would be a must-see game just a year later, not many people would believe you.

However, this was absolutely the case for Sunday’s St. John’s-UConn matchup, with St. John’s actually coming into the game as the betting favorites over the two-time defending national champions.

Ahead of the game, Goodman, who co-founded The Field of 68 college basketball media network, took to social media to acknowledge how far the St. John’s program has come this season.

“I honestly can’t even remember the last St. John’s regular-season home game I was at,” wrote Goodman on X. “The Johnnies have been nationally irrelevant for soooo long.”

I honestly can’t even remember the last St. John’s regular-season home game I was at.

The Johnnies have been nationally irrelevant for soooo long.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 23, 2025

Goodman was seemingly trying to positively highlight the growth of the St. John’s program this season, after years of underwhelming results. However, Zach Brazille, a St. John’s beat writer for the New York Post, took Goodman’s post as a bit of a backhanded compliment.

Brazille responded with a dig at Goodman, taking aim at the implication that Goodman is suggesting his own presence at a basketball game would indicate some level of national relevancy.

“Are you saying you’re nationally relevant?” replied Brazille.

Are you saying you’re nationally relevant?

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) February 23, 2025

Truthfully, Goodman’s post should simply be seen as him highlighting the recent history of St. John’s basketball program. The fact that he included a personal anecdote about his infrequent appearances at Johnnies home games is secondary to the main point.

Regardless of how you feel about Goodman’s comments, he is undoubtedly correct about St. John’s being nationally relevant this year. This was further exemplified on the court on Sunday, as the Red Storm were able to easily handle UConn for the second time this season, coming away with an 89-75 victory.