The Saint Joe’s rollercoaster experience is one that would bring plenty of crying kids and possibly even a collection of lawsuits to Dorney Park or Universal Studios.
You start at a relatively high perch, a familiar vantage point that brings excitement for what’s to come. The ride then dips, understandably as gravity and mechanical advantage require a certain pattern for momentum. As you reclimb up, you get that pit in your stomach. It’s the slow burn of anticipation for reaching new heights. The crux of these rides? What feels like an eternity to make it to the top can never prepare you for the split second that takes you down back to the bottom. What comes up must come down.
The St. Joe’s men’s basketball program, and its surrounding fanbase and community, are quite familiar with this ride. They’re so immersed in it they’ve essentially all become carneys at this point. Up and down, high expectations and low-end results. Massive wins against formidable opponents and flashes of at-large genius only to produce head-scratching performances against teams that sound like somebody combined the name of four different universities into one. The recurring cycle is equal parts exhausting and disheartening.
The worst part about St. Joes’ struggles is not the losses themselves nor the inability to establish themselves in or out of conference play. The worst part is the hype and anticipation that surrounds them, specifically the last two off-seasons. It’s what produces a strange crowd phenomenon of a sold-out Hagan on one night and an empty gym the next. Before last year’s season, it was reasonable to expect growing pains throughout this tricky transition. In fact, a fan may look back and think of these times with crimson-colored glasses. A time where change was on the horizon. As we’ve learned, periods where something is “being built” can often be more charming than the finished product. The “Process” Sixers are a pretty good example of that, as our plenty of organizations that underwent a rebuild or a so-called “culture change.”
There are some St. Joe’s fans that have unreasonable dreams. They want to make the tournament every year or want to dominate the A10 annually. I think those are the minority, however. Most SJU fans understand the bit – they get the gig. St. Joe’s is not Gonzaga, nor are they even on a similar level to schools that operate in their conference like VCU or Dayton (even these schools are struggling to not be friend-zoned by the NCAA tournament). For the most part, the Martelli-Hawk fan exchange was a reasonable one highlighted by March Madness trips on a five-year basis, competing to win the occasional A10 title, and scrapped years that were used to build up players to fit the system. There are also fans that are content with simply beating Villanova the last two years, and I envy that level of pettiness and ignorance.
Next you have the talent piece, which provides a similar sting. The talent is as good at St. Joe’s as I’ve ever seen being a die-hard fan for over a decade. Rasheer Flemming currently sits in the back-half of the first round in pretty much all the reputable 2025 NBA Draft Boards. Erik Reynolds II is a pre-season Atlantic 10 POY candidate whose set to pass Jameer’s record. Forget the record, X Brown shows flashes of Jameer on a regular basis with his fluidity and quickness – a player that any team in the A10 and far beyond would feel comfortable building around. The role players are the role players – there’s plenty of athleticism and talent to support this trio.
Lastly, there’s a lack of accountability for the lack in progress. I’ve never heard a loss to say Central Connecticut State called out as “inexcusable” or any mention of the path we’re supposed to be on. St. Joe’s isn’t in the position to just shake off Q4 bottom-of-the-barrel losses as hiccups or learning lessons. With this team, you simply must win these kinds of games, and honestly win by 20+ with the immergence of advanced metrics. You also have to win a couple of the big ones, which you have to give them credit for, I suppose. Basketball is played on the court, so there’s an element that comes down to the players not delivering, obviously, but that’s a trickier spot.
St. Joe’s will go into conference play with a really mediocre record and a lot to prove. I’m not sure what bookmakers can make of them – as they could easily beat the leagues best and just as easily fall to its worst.
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