Unlike most people who are picking college basketball powerhouses such as the Duke Blue Devils or the Arizona Wildcats to win the national championship, former New York Knicks star John Starks is going with a sleeper – he’s going with the Rick Pitino-led St. John’s Red Storm to win it all.
Starks, who is best known for his career with the Knicks during the 90s in which he led the team to the 1994 NBA Finals alongside Patrick Ewing, is going with an unlikely matchup in the national championship game. He’s going with St. John’s against the Arkansas Razorbacks, which are led by another legendary head coach in John Calipari.
Advertisement
“Just watching them live, I was at Madison Square Garden during their semifinal game and and I’m like, ‘Wow,’” said Starks in a one-on-one interview of St. Johns. “This team has really grown from the start of the season to where they’re at now, and just watching the way they play, the toughness that they play with, it reminds me of our Knicks team. Their guard play is so much better than it was last year – if you can say that – because they had some tremendous guards last year.”
Starks continued to elaborate on why St. Johns is his pick. They had a sensational season last year, peaking at No. 5 in the AP poll and going 31-5 on the season. However, their cinderella season ended in the second round.
“I think they’re a better shooting team than they was last year,” Starks said. “I love that little point guard (Dylan Darling) they have. He just a tough son of a gun, and he runs the team. And then big (Zuby) Ejiofor, he’s just a monster. He really elevated his game since two years ago, since he came to St John’s. They have a Hall of Famer coach in Coach Pitino, he knows what it takes in order to win obviously during tournament time. I think he got these guys right there from a mentality standpoint, knowing that they can go in and beat anybody.”
Advertisement
New York Knicks great John Starks’ 2026 Men’s Basketball bracket.
AT&T
The two legendary coaches have faced off multiple times in the NCAA tournament, including twice in the Final Four and twice in the Sweet 16. However, they’ve never matched up in the national championship game.
St John’s is currently the No. 5 seed in the East region while Arkansas is the No. 4 seed in the West region. Duke is the top seed in the East region while Arizona is the top seed in the west region. Both teams had two losses this season and are regarded as the top teams in college basketball.
Advertisement
Starks singles out the play of Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff Jr., who leads the team with 23.0 points and 6.6 assists per game.
“These two guys, Hall of Famer coaches, obviously, they got Darius Acuff Jr.,” said Starks. They have him, the little point guard. He’s a monster. And same thing those guys, they get after you defensively. I think Rick Pitino and coach Calipari probably be sharing notes how to play because they’re kind of mirror images of each other. From the standpoint of that they get after you defensively, they got big guys that can run, they got big guys that can shoot.
“You throw Calipari in there that’s been through the wars during the tournaments, and he understands how to get these guys ready mentally,” Starks continued to say. “They got that little beast. He’s tough to handle. When (Kendrick) Perkins said that he could be the number one pick, I’m like, ‘What?’ Then I started watching him. I’m like, ‘Whoa. Okay, I see what you’re talking about.’ He’s a fascinating young man. I love his game.”
Advertisement
John Starks Talks About AT&T Commercial With Patrick Ewing, Jalen Brunson And Karl-Anthony Towns
Starks’ picks for the tournament come at the right time as he happens to be starring in an AT&T commercial with Ewing and current Knicks stars in Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jose Alvarado.
The commercial – which is now airing during the March Madness tournament games – sees them showcase the “Connection Matters” campaign while Starks, Brunson and Towns are out in the wilderness having a video chat with Ewing and Alvarado who are elsewhere.
Advertisement
“It was a lot of fun just going out to California right after All Star Weekend and to be able to do this commercial with Jalen and Karl as well as my good buddy and former teammate, Patrick Ewing and Jose Alvarado,” said Starks. “We had a good time. I’m glad I was able to do it and AT&T, during this time of the year is all about making sure that the fans stay connected to March Madness, and making sure that they don’t get their service interrupted, and miss all these great memories that’s going on right now.
“I was excited when they brought this to me, and knowing that we’re going to do something very special,” Starks continued to say. “It’s been great getting great feedback from all my friends and fans on the commercial. It was a lot of fun. I’m just thankful to AT&T that they came over with this, that I get to work with Jalen, Karl as well as Patrick and Jose. It was a lot of fun.”
John Starks, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns in new AT&T commercial.
AT&T
Starks, who teamed up with Ewing from 1990 until 1998, detailed how much fun it was to reunite with the Hall of Fame center.
Advertisement
“It was fun,” said Starks. “I had to coerce him, dig at him a little bit to get them to come aboard because it was supposed to be both of us out there. Unfortunately he couldn’t make it out there, so I wanted to hang out with him for a little bit. But we were able to get out there and do the commercial live, and obviously Patrick did it on the phone.”