St. John's Elite Eight Team Reunites for NIL Fundraiser
The 1998-99 St. John's basketball team was one of the best in school history. They finished 28-9 and 14-4 in the Big East. The team was loaded with NBA talent, including Metta World Peace, Erick Barkley, and Lavor Postell.
On Saturday, St. John's will honor members of the team during halftime against UConn. UConn is the No. 1 ranked team in America and will give the Red Storm everything they have in a classic Big East contest.
There will be a reunion dinner, too, according to the New York Post's Zach Braziller. The dinner will directly help the St. John's basketball program, raising money for Name, Image, and Likeness.
However, the 98-99 team wouldn't do it unless there was a guarantee. According to Braziller, Tyrone Grant told the following to Matt Abdelmassih, the teams' general manager:
“Nobody’s coming back unless coach [Mike Jarvis] comes,” Grant, a center on that team, told Abdelmassih.
Mike Jarvis was the head coach of the 98-99 team but was fired just six games into the 2003-04 season. Jarvis hasn't been back in the picture at all since the day he was fired.
He returns this weekend and will make an appearance at the NIL dinner on Friday. Jarvis will then be at Madison Square Garden as the team gets honored during halftime.
This will not only be an awesome opportunity for the fans and former players, but the current players are directly benefited. With new head coach Rick Pitino taking over the Johnnies, all the NIL help he can get is massive. Pitino's one of the best recruiters in the nation and will be able to land major NYC and national talent with more NIL funds.
