[3] Prior to the 1994–95 school year, the university's nickname was the "St. John's Redmen", which referenced the red uniforms worn by its teams in competition.

The change happened at a time when there was mounting pressure on colleges and universities to adopt names more sensitive to Native American culture.

The team plays at the 3,500-seat Jack Kaiser Stadium, dedicated in 2007 to the Hall of Fame Coach and former St. John's Athletic Director.

[10] St. John's is the seventh-most-winningest program in college basketball history (1,686 wins),[11] St. John's boasts the seventh-most NCAA tournament appearances (27), two Wooden Award winners as national player of the year, 11 consensus All-Americans, 6 members of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and has sent 59 players to the NBA.

The program's highest post-season finish came during the 2011–12 season when they advanced to Sweet Sixteen under Kim Barnes Arico led by WNBA draft picks, Nadirah McKenith and Shenneika Smith.

Since then the program has had two additional WNBA selections, in Aliyyah Handford and Danaejah Grant, who helped add a fourth Big East tournament championship in 2016.

In addition to team accolades, St. John's has won 26 NCAA individual national championship titles, and 140 of its fencers have been named All-Americans.

The men's team also had three players finish in first place at the annual Big East Championship: Andrew Svoboda in 2001, Ryan McCormick in 2014, and Dylan Crowley in 2015.

The St. John's men's soccer program has appeared in 15 consecutive NCAA tournaments, advancing to the Sweet 16 in each of the last ten seasons, and the Final Four on 3 occasions.

They were led by two-time NSCAA All-American Rachel Daly who went on to break many university scoring records and being selected in the 2016 NWSL College Draft by the Houston Dash with the sixth overall pick.

At a soccer game in fall 2009, members of the Athletics Department announced that a Thunderbird had received the majority of votes and would become the new mascot.