Rick Pitino and St John’s hope for a resurgence in the talented Big East
With legendary head coach Rick Pitino returning to the conference in which he previously coached Providence and Louisville, the New York City-born and Bayville, Long Island raised Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer is now leading St. John’s, with high expectations from the school’s avid supporters.
“We are going to give every ounce of perspiration we have in us to try and get a victory,” Pitino said last week at Madison Square Garden at the Big East’s men’s basketball annual media day. Pitino, who guided Iona to two MAAC regular season (2022, 2023) titles and two MAAC tournament championships (2021, 2023), just made a short geographical move from New Rochelle to Queens to join St. John’s. As he melds 12 new players on the roster,
Red Storm fans should temper their desire for immediate positive results.
“We have new faces and the toughest thing for us has been to get the guys to know each other’s skill set and getting them to communicate defensively,” he said. “We are basically starting from scratch and that’s been tedious, to say the least, but it’s been very enjoyable.”
Although he did a solid job, former head coach Mike Anderson failed to get St. John’s into the NCAA postseason tournament in his four seasons (2019-23) there. Pitino aims to have his squad, made up of mostly transfers, end that drought. The team last participated in March Madness under former head coach Chris Mullin, one of the Red Storm’s most iconic figures
“I had three prerequisites that I wanted in this recruiting class,” Pitino explained. “I wanted great athletes who were great people. Then I wanted to make sure they had high goals for themselves so they could take their goals and turn them into something special. If you want to prosper the name on the back, play for the name on the front. That’s how you build a culture. When you play every single day in practice for the name on the front, the back will prosper. That is what we keep preaching to this team.”
Senior center Joel Soriano, a rare returning player on the team, who averaged 15.2 points and 11.9 rebounds last season and was named to the preseason All-Big East First Team, assessed the team’s outlook.
“We had guys that came from the MAAC and guys that came straight out of high school,” he said. “It’s just getting our guys up to speed on how physical our conference is, how much faster it is, and how the refs let you play.”
Soriano noted he is focused on collective goals.
“I want to make the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “I want to play Friday night in the Big East tournament, win 20-plus games this year, and really just win. That has been my goal since I’ve been here.”
The Red Storm host Stony Brook to open the season on campus next Tuesday at Carnesecca and face Michigan at Madison Square Garden on November 13.
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