Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big East Basketball: 10 biggest questions for league entering 2023-24 season

By Kyle Craib

Mar 21, 2023; New York, NY, USA; New St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino speaks at his introductory press conference at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2023; New York, NY, USA; New St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino speaks at his introductory press conference at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 11
Next
St. Johns University athletic director Mike Cragg, new head basketball coach Rick Pitino, Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President of St. John’s and Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman (Photo by Porter BInks /Getty Images)
St. Johns University athletic director Mike Cragg, new head basketball coach Rick Pitino, Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., President of St. John’s and Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman (Photo by Porter BInks /Getty Images) /

Can Rick Pitino Work his Magic with St. John’s?

In 2022/23, the St. John’s Red Storm were a team with promise, but without execution.

Despite cruising through their out of conference schedule to the tune of 11-1 record, the Big East exposed the Johnnies’ weaknesses as the season rolled on. The team dropped their first five games within the conference and were never able to recover, falling all the way back to an 8th place finish. Heading into this year’s campaign, St. John’s was in desperate need of a fresh start and a new identity.

Enter: Rick Pitino; the two-time NCAA tournament champion with seven Final Four appearances and 23 years of college basketball experience under his belt.

Pitino agreed to a six-year deal with St. John’s over the offseason after leading Iona to the NCAA tournament in 2022/23. After making his name coaching marquee college basketball programs across the nation starting all the way back in 1975, his time in the NCAA came to an abrupt stop in 2016.

Pitino was fired from his head coaching position at Louisville when allegations surfaced of payments of $100,000 to the family of a recruit. Despite maintaining that he had no knowledge of events that transpired, Pitino accepted that he failed as a leader and was ousted from college basketball until the trial concluded. However, once the NCAA implemented new regulations to allow players to profit off of their name, image and likeness in 2021, the accusations now seem a tad trivial.

Alas, Pitino bided his time and when opportunity finally stuck with Iona, he completely revitalized the program. Now, the Red Storm are hoping he will carry out a similar path to success.

On his trip to Queens, Pitino brought along some friends that helped power Iona’s charge up the college basketball ranks last season. In the backcourt, Daniss Jenkins and Cruz Davis will look to replicate their 22 points of combined offence in the Big East this season. Also joining the Red Storm is forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo, a promising newcomer entering into his sophomore season.

Last year, St. John’s featured a flawed roster that executed a high volume, low efficiency offence that eventually floundered within the conference. However, the 2022/23 roster has been completely reshaped, welcoming in 10 incoming transfers and two freshmen, while only returning two players from last year’s squad.

The standout from the crowd of new recruits is clearly Jordan Dingle, a former Nittany Lion coming off of a career-best season averaging 23.4 points per game. The senior will need to be a focal point of St. John’s reshaped offence this year to provide some stability to a very green group.

Also transferring over to the Johnnies this season are *deep breath* Nahiem Alleyne, Sean Conway, Zuby Ejiofor, Chris Ledlum, Glenn Taylor Jr. and R.J. Luis, as well as a pair of highly regarded freshmen in Brady Dunlap and Simeon Wilcher.

Forward Joel Soriano returns to St. John’s for his final year in college ball after leading the team in scoring last season, averaging 15.2 points alongside 11.9 boards per game. Soriano will need to be a reliable veteran presence and trusted target down low to allow this roster to find their footing early on.

All together, St. John’s work in the transfer portal has managed to round up a group of players that tallied over 120 points of offence per game in the previous season. While chemistry remains a big concern, Rick Pitino’s track record speaks for itself. This team has the potential to take the Big East by (red) storm, but will Pitino be able to work his magic in Queens?

Home/Big East