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St. John's will play St. Francis (NY) at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday, Dec. 15, the school announced on Thursday.

The game will be part of a triple-header. The other matchups are Michigan versus West Virginia and Fordham versus Princeton, which had already been announced.

The event is dubbed the Brooklyn Hoops Winter Festival, and tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

St. John's men's basketball coach Steve Lavin officially announced the addition of six new players to his roster on Wednesday.

Click here to read the full story.

St. John's assistant coach Mike Dunlap is a candidate for the head coaching job with the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats, and is expected to be formally interviewed in Charlotte next week.

“Coach Dunlap’s being invited to interview for the head coaching position with the Charlotte Bobcats is a compliment to Mike and our program," said St. John's head coach Steve Lavin. "I enthusiastically support Mike in the process. As a head coach, I encourage all of my assistants to aspire to become head coaches.”

Dunlap has some NBA experience, having spent two years as an assistant coach under George Karl with the Denver Nuggets. And he served as the de facto head coach at St. John's for most of this past season, as Lavin recuperated from prostate cancer surgery.

Click here to read more on the Bobcats' coaching search.

Former St. John's forward D.J. Kennedy has been signed by the Cleveland Cavaliers for the final few days of the NBA regular season.

Kennedy had an outstanding season with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, averaging 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 37.4 minutes per game. He shot 44.7 percent from the field, 37.8 percent from 3-point range, and 81.6 percent from the foul line.

The talented 6-foot-6 swingman has recovered nicely after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the 2011 Big East tournament. The Red Storm sorely missed Kennedy in that year's NCAA Tournament, when they were upset in the first round by Gonzaga.

Kennedy finished his St. John's career 12th in school history in career points, with 1,504.

St. John's men's basketball coach Steve Lavin will give the commencement address at the university's graduation ceremonies this year, the school announced on Thursday.

Lavin will actually give two speeches -- at the Staten Island campus ceremony on Saturday, May 12, and the Queens campus ceremony on Sunday, May 13.

Former St. John's forward Moe Harkless will be selected in the first round of this summer's NBA draft -- at least according to Chad Ford's latest mock draft, published today.

Ford, ESPN's NBA draft expert, currently has Harkless being selected at No. 26 by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Click here to see the entire mock draft (if you're a member of ESPN Insider).

Moe Harkless will hold a news conference at Madison Square Garden on Monday, at which the St. John's forward will announce whether he is planning to enter the NBA draft or return to the Red Storm for his sophomore season.

The fact that Harkless is holding a news conference indicates he is likely to turn pro.

The 6-foot-8 Queens native was named the Big East Rookie of the Year earlier this month, after averaging 15.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game this season.

St. John's head coach Steve Lavin will appear as a guest analyst on CBS' and Turner's coverage of the NCAA tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

Lavin will work alongside hosts Greg Gumbel and Ernie Johnson, and analysts Charles Barkley, Greg Anthony and Kenny Smith.

"I'm looking forward to working this weekend as a studio analyst covering the NCAA tournament for CBS Sports and Turner Sports," Lavin said. "There is no better sporting event than March Madness and contributing as a broadcaster is the next-best thing to participating as a coach. Next March the Johnnies plan to be back in the field of 68, but in the meantime I consider it a privilege to work alongside the expert studio crew in NYC."

In case you missed it from late Wednesday night, star recruit Jakarr Sampson has re-committed to play for St. John's starting next season.

Click here to read more.

St. John's received a verbal commitment on Monday from Felix Balamou, a 6-foot-3 senior wingman from Our Savior New American School on Long Island.

Balamou is the first recruit to commit to St. John's this spring. St. John's is also adding point guard Jamal Branch, a highly touted transfer from Texas A&M, who will be eligible for the Red Storm starting in the second semester of next year.

St. John's coach Steve Lavin is also courting Balamou's high school teammate, Chris Obekpa, a 6-foot-8 center who ESPNU ranks as the No. 50 high school senior in the country.

Lavin has several roster spots to fill, and desperately needs to add some post players to his talented mix of guards and wingmen that played for St. John's this season.

St. John's forward Moe Harkless is leaning toward leaving St. John's after one season and jumping to the NBA, according to a report in the New York Daily News published Saturday evening.

On Friday, ESPN.com NBA draft expert Chad Ford published an article about NBA draft prospects who won't be in the NCAA tournament. Here is what he wrote about Harkless:

"Harkless looks like he's entering the draft. Scouts love Harkless and he put on a show in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Harkless had 25 points, 11 rebounds and even knocked down a rare 3-pointer. One scout called him a poor man's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist -- which actually is a pretty serious compliment. If he could shoot, he'd be a lottery pick. But as it stands, there's still a good chance he goes somewhere in the mid- to late first round."

St. John's head coach Steve Lavin texted this in response to the Harkless report:

"Moe and I have had a number of productive conversations over the past four days. Naturally the discussions covered the pros and cons of leaving St. John's to pursue his dream of playing in the NBA. Moe and his mother Rosa know, regardless of what his ultimate decision is, we enthusiastically support them. They understand that either outcome will clearly help the Johnnies' cause as we continue to build our basketball program."

After being presented with the Big East Rookie of the Year award on Tuesday, Harkless first revealed that he was considering entering the NBA draft.

Chad Ford currently has Harkless ranked as the No. 30 prospect in this year's draft, which would put him at the end of the first round.

Overview: St. John's, which had won at least one game in the past three Big East tournaments, exits in the first round in 2012. The Red Storm, seeded 12th and playing on their home floor, lose to 13th-seeded Pittsburgh, handily.

No one expected this six-man, inexperienced St. John's team to make a deep run in this tourney -- no one thinking rationally, anyway. But a first-day loss is disappointing.

Meanwhile, Pittsburgh -- which hadn't won a Big East tournament game since 2008, and had an extremely disappointing regular season -- moves on.

Turning point: After falling behind 8-2 early, St. John's showed great resolve in rallying to take a 26-20 lead with 5:15 remaining in the first half. But then Pittsburgh turned it up a notch, closing the half on a 13-2 run to take a 33-28 lead into the locker room.

St. John's never recovered. Pitt quickly expanded the lead to double digits in the second half, and was in control of the game from there. Moe Harkless tried his best to carry the Red Storm on his back (see more below), but he got little help from his teammates. The Panthers continued to knock down perimeter shots, and starting cleaning up on the offensive glass as well. The Red Storm had no rally in them this time around.

Key player: Harkless, who is expected to be named the Big East Rookie of the Year at a news conference later today, had a fabulous finish to his freshman season. The 6-foot-8 Queens native finished with 25 points and nine rebounds, making 10 of 16 shots -- one of his best games of the season.

Senior guard Ashton Gibbs led the way for Pittsburgh with 20 points, knocking down four treys.

Miscellaneous: St. John's has been a poor shooting team all season long, particularly from behind the 3-point line, and that reared its ugly ahead again today. The Red Storm shot 22-for-66 from the field (33.3 percent), and 2-for-11 from beyond the arc (18.2 percent). ... D'Angelo Harrison had an outstanding freshman season for St. John's, but he really struggled today -- 4-for-18 from the field, 12 points.

What's next: Pittsburgh will play No. 5 seed Georgetown in the second round, on Wednesday at approximately 2:30 p.m.

As for St. John's? This long, strange season is over. Time to turn its full attention to bringing in some much-needed reinforcements in the spring signing period. Hopefully the next time St. John's takes the floor for a game, Steve Lavin will be back on the sideline, too.

Here are three halftime observations from the second game of the day here at the Big East tournament:

UP AND DOWN: St. John's fell behind Pittsburgh early, 8-2, but rallied to lead by as many as six, 26-20, with 5:15 remaining in the half. But then the Panthers outscored the Red Storm 13-2 the rest of the way to take a five-point lead into the locker room.

Ashton Gibbs scored the first seven points of that spurt -- the senior has a game-high 15 points at intermission. The Red Storm have to keep better track of him, particularly in the corners beyond the arc.

GOTTA GO TO MOE: St. John's forward Moe Harkless, who is expected to receive the Big East Rookie of the Year award at a news conference later today, had 13 points in the first half for St. John's, making five of his seven shots. Harkless has to continue to be aggressive offensively for the Red Storm to win this game.

BE CAREFUL! Every St. John's starter except Phil Greene has two fouls -- they have to be careful in the second half, we all know how thin the bench is.

The Big East released its all-conference teams on Sunday morning, and both Seton Hall and St. John's had two players honored.

Seton Hall point guard Jordan Theodore made the All-Big East second team, while power forward Herb Pope made the All-Big East third team.

St. John's forward Moe Harkless was on the All-Big East honorable mention list, and both he and fellow freshman D'Angelo Harrison made the Big East All-Rookie team.

The Big East Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards will be announced on Tuesday, in between the two opening-round sessions of the Big East tournament. Both Harkless and Harrison are prime candidates for that award as well.

Click here to see a complete list of the All-Big East teams.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Winning ugly -- that's what Rutgers did Saturday night.

But it counts just as much in the standings.

In the last game of the Big East regular season, the Scarlet Knights (14-17, 6-12 Big East) squeaked past St. John's, 61-58, and in the process gained the No. 11 seed in next week's Big East tournament.

The Red Storm (13-18, 6-12 Big East) lose the head-to-head tiebreaker with Rutgers, and have to settle for the No. 12 seed.

"This is a confidence builder, going into the Big East tournament," said Rutgers guard Mike Poole. "We just needed to get this win."

The game was far from aesthetically pleasing, but the biggest play of the day was a beauty -- Dane Miller's put-back one-handed slam off an Eli Carter miss with nine seconds left, putting Rutgers ahead 59-58.

"It's all about angles rebounding the ball," said Miller, who posted his seventh double-double of the season, with 10 points and 10 boards. "I knew where he shot it from, I just ran straight to the rim and I was in the air -- when the ball came out it went right to my hands."

"It's a fitting moment, especially of the way he's played the last four weeks of the season," said Rutgers coach Mike Rice. "When he gives that energy and that toughness, we're a much better team."

Neither squad led by more than five points over the course of 40 minutes. St. John’s guard D'Angelo Harrison missed a long 3-point attempt with under five seconds remaining -- and following a pair of Carter free throws, saw his half-court heave rim out at the buzzer, which would have tied the game.

"I had a chance to win it," said Harrison, who had a team-high 17 points but shot just 6-for-17 from the field. "I didn't take advantage of it."

Fellow Big East Rookie of the Year candidate Moe Harkless had an off night, with just eight points, shooting 4-for-15.

Neither team shot better than 37 percent from the field. But their performances at the foul line were drastically different. Rutgers made 16 of 21 attempts from the charity stripe; St. John's was just 10-for-22.

"It was a matter of us, our ability to hit our free throws," said St. John's coach Mike Dunlap. "You can talk about this play or that play, but that right there, that piece is glaring to me."

The Red Storm entered the game shooting 68.4 percent from the foul line, ranking them 196th in Division I -- the middle of the pack. But free throw misses have cost them dearly in several games this season.

As for Rutgers, Rice was happy with his team after the game, despite the fact they shot the ball so poorly -- including just 30 percent in the first half, which ended in a 25-25 tie.

"I was proud of them, and they didn't understand," Rice said. "It wasn't phony at halftime. I was really proud of our guys. They were awful, and yet they defended. And yet they just hung in there. They found a way, and in this league you have to do that."

Dunlap was proud of his guys, too, coming off an 89-69 pounding at Pittsburgh three nights before.

"For us to come in here off of the Pitt loss and perform the way we did, rock solid," Dunlap said. "Defensively I was really disappointed in our effort [against Pitt], and I thought our effort tonight was drastically different."

Rutgers, which won two of its last three to end the regular season, will now face No. 14 seed Villanova on Tuesday at 9 p.m. The Wildcats just beat the Scarlet Knights two nights ago at the RAC, 77-71.

"I hope this gives us energy. I hope this recharges our batteries," Rice said. "I like the fact that it's a quick turnaround with somebody who just got done beating you -- hopefully that's a little more added motivation."

St. John's also has a quick turnaround -- they get a rematch with No. 13 seed Pittsburgh, Tuesday at 2 p.m.

“We’ve gotta rebound better,” Dunlap said. “[Pitt] absolutely beat us from pillar to post off the glass. So that was something that I think we can correct.”

“They beat us pretty bad,” Harrison said, of Pittsburgh. “We felt like we didn’t play our brand of basketball. We’ll be at home, so we’ll definitely have a lift going into that game.”

Both teams finished with six conference wins. But for Rutgers, it’s their most Big East victories since 2005-06.

“They deserve it,” said Rice of his players. “They fought through a lot of different circumstances this year, especially for a young team.

“They’re getting better. They’re not as soft. They’re responding better. That’s all it is.”

Now these two teams, both chock-full of freshmen, wade farther into unchartered waters -- postseason play.

How will they handle this stage? We’ll find out starting Tuesday afternoon.

The regular season is in the books, folks.

March Madness has officially arrived.