QUEENS, N.Y. - A crowd of 3,315 St. John's fans eager for the start of the 2010-11 basketball season filled Carnesecca Arena on Friday night for the opportunity to see both the men's and women's basketball teams in action for the first time at the 2010 Red Storm Tip-Off. The event, which aired as part of the live, four-hour "whip-around" Midnight Madness Special on ESPNU, featured live music from Harlem performing artist Ron Browz and New York City's own D.J. S&S - the D.J. of music and entertainment mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Hosted by ESPN SportsCenter anchor John Anderson and co-hosted by legendary Rucker Park emcee "E.J. Da Mayor," the event also featured scrimmages from both the men's and women's basketball teams, a dunk contest and a $10,000 half-court shot. ESPN college basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb was also in attendance to provide live updates to the broadcast team of Jay Bilas, Hubert Davis, Andy Katz and Bram Weinstein back in the studio.

The women's team was introduced first and treated fans to both a choreographed skit and a scrimmage.

"Thank you everyone for being here tonight," said head coach Kim Barnes Arico. "We had a great run last year and we're back this season with a lot of talent and a lot of drive and we're excited to start playing. We have six nationally televised games and a game at The Garden against UConn. We're expecting big things this season. We've been practicing for about a week now, but tonight is about having a good time."

After the men's team and coaching staff was introduced, head coach Steve Lavin took the microphone to address the crowd, which was on its feet chanting his name.

"I want to start by expressing our genuine gratitude to everyone here tonight," Lavin began. "We are all overwhelmed by the turnout tonight and the support, the passion and the energy that is on display. Looking ahead to this season, it is imperative that we take the energy that's on display tonight and sustain it throughout the season so that we can continue to make the climb through this rugged BIG EAST."

A men's scrimmage that featured plenty of high-flying slam dunks and alley-oops was followed by the slam dunk contest with freshman Dwayne Polee Jr., redshirt sophomore Quincy Roberts and senior Paris Horne vying for dunking supremacy. With women's basketball players seniors Centhya Hart and Sky Lindsay, and junior Da'Shena Stevens serving as guest judges, Horne took home the crown with his rendition of the East Bay Funk Dunk originally made famous by Isaiah Rider in the 1994 NBA Dunk Contest.

The 2010-11 Red Storm men`s squad returns five starters and 12 letterwinners from a 2009-10 team that posted a 17-16 record, reached the first round of the Postseason NIT and are looking to improve upon a 13th-place BIG EAST finish. St. John's 10-man senior class includes returning scoring leaders D.J. Kennedy (15.1 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game, 3.1 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game), Dwight Hardy (10.5 ppg, .383 3-point field goal percentage) and Horne (9.2 ppg).

Barnes Arico, the 2010 MBWA Coach of the Year, and her squad are coming off the best season in program history, making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and advancing to the second round in 2010. St. John's finished 25-7 overall, tied the program mark with 12 BIG EAST wins, boasted a 13-1 home record and finished No. 15 in the final AP Poll. With nine letterwinners returning, the squad has been rated as high as 13th in the basketball preview magazines and Stevens was named a second team Preseason All-American by the Sporting News.

Fans can be a part of the 2010-11 St. John's hardwood campaign by visiting www.redstormsports.com and clicking on the "Tickets" link to order men's and women's basketball season tickets.