QUEENS, N.Y. (Dec. 7, 2018) – The St. John’s men’s basketball team will honor Jim O’Connell, an alumnus and longtime college basketball writer for The Associated Press, with a patch on all game uniforms this Sunday during the Johnnies’ first home game of the season at Madison Square Garden where he was a fixture covering events. O’Connell passed away in July after courageously battling a series of illnesses.
“This is a very special opportunity for us to pay respect to Oc and celebrate his legacy with his family at a place he loved covering college basketball,” said St. John’s Director of Athletics Mike Cragg. “These patches will remind us of the great life he lived and all of his contributions to St. John’s University, our basketball program and college basketball as a whole.”
The red patch that includes the letters “Oc”, a tribute to the nickname he was known to all, will be positioned on the front of the team’s white uniforms in the top left for the Red Storm’s matchup with Princeton in the MSG Holiday Festival. Madison Square Garden will also honor O’Connell by mounting a permanent plaque in his workspace inside the John Condon Press Room.
O’Connell, the AP’s national college basketball writer since 1987, was a former president of the United States Basketball Writers Association and was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 2002. That same year, O’Connell was honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Curt Gowdy Award for his coverage of the sport.
After serving as the sports information director at Fordham University, O’Connell returned to the Associated Press in 1978 where he covered every Final Four through 2017. During his years of dedicated service, he also covered eight Olympics and was a fixture at the BIG EAST Tournament and Maui Invitational.
O’Connell graduated from St. John’s in 1976. As an undergrad, he worked in the University’s sports information office and covered the St. John’s men’s basketball program led by Hall of Fame Head Coach Lou Carnesecca.
St. John’s and Princeton will tip-off at 1 p.m. on FS1. Sunday’s contest will mark the Johnnies 52nd all-time appearance in the MSG Holiday Festival dating back to 1952.
“This is a very special opportunity for us to pay respect to Oc and celebrate his legacy with his family at a place he loved covering college basketball,” said St. John’s Director of Athletics Mike Cragg. “These patches will remind us of the great life he lived and all of his contributions to St. John’s University, our basketball program and college basketball as a whole.”
The red patch that includes the letters “Oc”, a tribute to the nickname he was known to all, will be positioned on the front of the team’s white uniforms in the top left for the Red Storm’s matchup with Princeton in the MSG Holiday Festival. Madison Square Garden will also honor O’Connell by mounting a permanent plaque in his workspace inside the John Condon Press Room.
O’Connell, the AP’s national college basketball writer since 1987, was a former president of the United States Basketball Writers Association and was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 2002. That same year, O’Connell was honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Curt Gowdy Award for his coverage of the sport.
After serving as the sports information director at Fordham University, O’Connell returned to the Associated Press in 1978 where he covered every Final Four through 2017. During his years of dedicated service, he also covered eight Olympics and was a fixture at the BIG EAST Tournament and Maui Invitational.
O’Connell graduated from St. John’s in 1976. As an undergrad, he worked in the University’s sports information office and covered the St. John’s men’s basketball program led by Hall of Fame Head Coach Lou Carnesecca.
St. John’s and Princeton will tip-off at 1 p.m. on FS1. Sunday’s contest will mark the Johnnies 52nd all-time appearance in the MSG Holiday Festival dating back to 1952.
