Big East Basketball: 3 biggest winners and losers of 2023 offseason

1. St. John’s Red Storm

This number one spot should be of no surprise for this St. John’s squad, they added one of the best college head coaches of the generation, and nine total transfers come to this program.

The hiring of Rick Pitino has changed the entire trajectory of this Red Storm program, and he immediately made his impact when he arrived in Queens.

He brought over his Iona studs like 6’6 Sadiku Ayo, 6’8 Quinn Slazinski, and solid guards Cruz Davis and Daniss Jenkins.

That was just the Iona group, there were big splashes like RJ Luis from UMass and Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor at power forward.

Ejiofor will be just a sophomore who averaged 20.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, and just over three blocks a game in high school.

For the Jayhawks, he did not get much time but in 5.1 minutes per game, he shot 65 percent from the field.

If St. John’s can bring out his solid efficiency and large presence, a potential great duo of him and Joel Soriano can make some waves.

Being able to keep Soriano was also a major moment for this squad as he was rumored to leave after the hiring of Pitino.

Every team needs their stud big man, and Soriano was that as the saving grace for the Johnnies last year, and now they keep him along with a star-studded transfer class that ranks fourth in the nation according to 247Sports.

This is a team that will most likely make the largest jump out of any Big East team, and with Pitino at the helm, this will be such a breath of fresh air for the conference as well as the program.