Since St. John’s University Head Coach Joe Tartamella has taken over the reigns of the Women’s Basketball team, not only has the program found success on the court, but also off of it as well.
In the 10-Years since he has been Coach Tartamella the team has advanced to 11 BIG EAST Tournaments, two Women’s National Invitational Tournament appearances, as well as players now playing in the WNBA. The latest bit of history for both Coach and the program, is the fact that for the first time ever the program will head overseas for an 11-day European journey through Italy and Spain from August 16-17.
It is a high compliment for any program to have the ability to go overseas, as the journey will provide to be both an educational one, while also providing the Red Storm with invaluable experiences on the court as well.
“We’re very excited to have the opportunity to go overseas for the first time in program history. We’ve had nine practices out of the ten we’re allotted and we’ll finish today,” said Coach Tartamella. “The team is working extremely hard and it’s given us an opportunity to see our young players for the first time. We also understand that we are not only representing the University, but our country as well, so we will be looking to make sure we are competing at the highest standard that we can.”
The NCAA allows teams one foreign trip every four years and 10 practices prior to the team’s departure. There are also two other BIG EAST Women’s Basketball teams overseas as DePaul and Marquette will also be thrilling fans in various countries. This trip by the Women’s Basketball team also follows a successful tour overseas by the Red Storm Men’s Basketball team, who had a two-week journey last season that saw the guys visiting Italy, France and Spain.
“These trips give us the opportunity to showcase the BIG EAST and that’s really important for us. When you see teams that have the opportunity to go overseas,” said Tartamella.”It shows potential student-athletes the commitment that the programs have in our league, that we have the type of coaches and administrators that give us this chance and that it gives teams an opportunity to experience different things.”
1495 Sports was able to attend a press conference prior to St. John’s leaving for Rome and is proud to present the following videos:
Head Coach Joe Tartamella:
Student-Athletes: Amber Thompson, Danaejah Grant and Aliyyah Handford:
For more information on St. John’s University Athletics fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here:
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