St. John's Red Storm - A+
St. John's made headlines in 2023 when they announced they would be hiring Rick Pitino as their next head coach. They would go around .500 in his first season but last season he would have his breakout season with the Red Storm going 31-5 and winning the Big East. They would sadly get eliminated early in the NCAA tournament, losing in the Round of 32 to a red-hot Arkansas team.
This offseason Pitino went to work, bringing in the number 1 transfer class in the nation and still bringing in 2 high school/international commits as well. He was able to get a major player from last season to come back in Zuby Ejiofor, who posted averages of 14.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.6 assist, and 2.3 stocks on 57.7, 22.2, 70.8 splits.
In the high school/international scene, Pitino got 2 commits, both being forwards. Those players being 6-4 4-star from Castaic, California, Kelvin Odih and a 6-8 unranked player from Austria, Imran Suljanovic. While these players might struggle to see the floor their first year if they stick it out and commit to the process they could end up being special, especially considering who is their coach.
The transfer portal is where Rick Pitino went unconscious, bringing in 7 commits, and almost all of them were major contributors to their team last season. The players he brought in include Handje Tamba from Milligan College, Dillon Mitchell from Cincinnati, Dylan Darling from Idaho St, Ian Jackson from UNC, Oziyah Sellers from Stanford, Joson Sanon from Arizona State, and Bryce Hopkins from Providence. This is potentially one of the greatest transfer classes we have ever seen.
Pitino put up a masterclass of an offseason and will likely be the favorite to win the Big East, as well as be one of the heavy favorites to win the National Championship. The absolute floor for this team is likely an 8-seed as worst.