In just a few short months, St. John’s University’s new vice president and director of athletics has truly experienced a storm of emotions … a Red Storm, that is.
Ed Kull has witnessed the ultimate high of the Johnnies men’s basketball team earning an NCAA Top-10 ranking for the first time in 25 years and the lowest of the low in the passing of St. John’s legendary coach Lou Carnesecca.
In this third stint at the Jamaica, Queens, school, the 42-year-old has begun carving out his own path between those two extremes. His Catholic upbringing has undoubtedly prepared him for this new, exciting challenge.
Kull grew up in Middle Village and attended Our Lady of Hope’s grammar school, where he played Catholic Youth Organization basketball and baseball and discovered his passion for sports.
Even though his mother worked at Christ the King High School, Middle Village, and his sister went to St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, Kull decided that Archbishop Molloy High School, Briarwood, was the best fit for him.
He played four years of baseball for the Stanners as a catcher. His team won the junior varsity CHSAA city championship in 1998 during his sophomore year, and captured the city championship again the next season on varsity under legendary coach Jack Curran — who played basketball and baseball at St. John’s.
From there, Kull earned a baseball scholarship to Stony Brook University, where he was the program’s first-ever All-America East Conference selection as a senior in 2003. After spending some time in professional baseball, he arrived for his first stint at St. John’s as a graduate assistant in external relations while earning his business degree.
Kull was then promoted to associate athletic director for external relations. Following that role, he spent a few years working in sports and entertainment marketing for large companies and was one of the first employees hired at Vitaminwater.
In 2011, he returned to St. John’s to serve as chiefof staff to the president, overseeing athletics and institutional advancement before eventually rising to acting vice president for athletics and institutional advancement. This role prepared him well, allowing him to become Fordham University’s senior director of development in the athletics department.
A few years later, Kull became Fordham’s athletic director and helped transform the school’s sports program. He always had strong ties to St. John’s, so when his current position opened, he knew it would be the perfect fit for him and his family. Thus, he became the eighth vice president and director of athletics in St. John’s history.
“My Catholic upbringing has played an immense role in my life and my career,” said Kull, now a parishioner at the Church of Saint Dominic in Oyster Bay, Long Island. “Getting back to campus and getting back to working with young people, I don’t even think I realize how valuable and important my faith has been in my life. It’s played a pivotal role for me.”
The day-to-day responsibilities of a Division I athletic director seem endless, but Kull’s experience at Fordham has helped him adjust. He’s balancing the well-being of the university’s 400-plus student-athletes with the ever-changing NCAA landscape, all while seeking revenue-generating opportunities to grow the Red Storm brand. Not to mention, he’s currently pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership at St. John’s.
“I feel like it’s become my life’s work and my direction to use athletics to help develop young people with leadership skills, overcome adversity, build team skills, and prepare them for adulthood and a future life,” Kull said. “I find it to be extremely inspiring and rewarding.”
Led by Rick Pitino, the St. John’s men’s basketball team has been the talk of the Big East Conference. While Kull has championed this program, he’s also focused on supporting the other 16 men’s and women’s sports to celebrate the student-athletes who don’t receive as much notoriety yet work just as hard.
“We’re utilizing athletics as just a piece of the entire student-athlete experience and what that means to the development of these young people,” Kull said. “Through outreach efforts to alumni, I try to identify some of the stories that people wouldn’t think about.”
For the first few weeks of his tenure, Kull was able to learn at least some of Carnesecca’s vast wisdom. “Looie” was Curran’s coaching predecessor at Archbishop Molloy back when the school was St. Ann’s Academy, so all the more reason for Kull to have felt a deep connection to St. John’s and the Hall of Fame coach.
“As sad as it is that he just missed his 100th birthday, I felt so honored and privileged that I was able to be athletic director and oversee the celebration of his life,” Kull said. So, while the start of his tenure has been quite the rollercoaster, Kull has settled into a position that has been fulfilling spiritually, emotionally, and professionally.
It’s fitting that a Catholic student-athlete from Queens is now shaping the positive collegiate experiences of student-athletes at a Catholic institution in Queens.