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New York Post
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Early signs point to St. John's enjoying unheard-of frontcourt luxury
There were stretches in Tuesday's scrimmage when Ruben Prey was St. John's best forward. The most active of the Red Storm's big men, cleaning up the glass, making shots, creating shots for others. Access the St. John's beat like never before Get Zach Braziller's text messages with all the latest St. John's info and get your questions answered — exclusive to Sports+ subscribers. SIGN UP NOW Coming off a freshman year in which he progressed late in the season, the Portuguese forward was impressive. Early on, he blocked a shot on one end and hit a 3-pointer on the other. He finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and a plus-33 rating. Advertisement Later on, Dillon Mitchell shined as a rim protector, ball handler and finisher. Zuby Ejiofor, the likely Big East preseason player of the year, and Providence transfer Bryce Hopkins also had strong moments. At least in Tuesday's open practice, the frontcourt has the makings of being elite. Ejiofor, the backbone to St. John's second-ranked defense a year ago, was always the given after his breakout winter. Prey appears to have made a leap.
Boston Globe
05-08-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Celtics reportedly trading Georges Niang, two second-round picks for Jazz rookie RJ Luis Jr.
Luis Jr., who started his collegiate career at UMass, blossomed into one of the best players in the country under Rick Pitino at St. John's. He was named Big East player of the year and was a second team All-American, but struggled at points in the postseason — he shot just 3 of 17 and finished with 9 points as the second-seeded Red Storm were upset by 10th-seeded Arkansas. The move gets the Celtics off of Niang's $8.2 million salary and brings Boston well below the second salary cap apron. Advertisement Amin Touri can be reached at
Fox Sports
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
St. John's Coach Rick Pitino On NIL, Transfer Portal: 'Complaining is of No Value'
Rick Pitino took St. John's from being a team that was nowhere to be found in the NCAA Tournament conversation to a No. 2 seed in just two seasons. How did Pitino get the Red Storm to rise to prominence so quickly? Living in the reality of NIL and the transfer portal, rather than fighting it. "I felt the change was here and quitting, resigning, complaining is of no value," Pitino said about NIL on Wednesday's edition of "The Herd." "You have to win the day. You have to get the job done, and I just felt that 'Okay, we're going to use it to the best of our abilities at St. John's.' "So, we're an urban school; we're a computer school; we play in Madison Square Garden as our home court: How can we maximize our potential by embracing the NIL and the transfer portal? We went away from high school basketball players, although we have taken one or two to develop, but by and large we've gone after older players." Pitino also expressed that parents have never been more involved in the recruiting process than now. On the basketball front, Pitino explained what his practices look like. "We have player development sessions every morning, Monday through Friday, where we go three-to-four different sessions with four players, and we try to take players like a Donovan Mitchell, a Terry Rozier who maybe's not ranked top-20 or 25 in high school, and they've got a little bit of a weakness. Donovan Mitchell had a weakness with the arc on his jump shot. Everybody's got a weakness coming out that's not top 10, so we try to take those player development sessions and make the players better," Pitino said. "Our practices, yes, are very difficult, but I will say this: They're not long. We don't go more than two hours, but we go hard for two hours. We're up and down for two hours. If I make a comment or a correction, it's going to be within 12 seconds, and then we're moving on because conditioning is a gigantic part of our style of play." After going 20-13 in the 2023-24 season, Pitino and the Red Storm put together a 31-5 campaign highlighted by winning the Big East regular-season title with an 18-2 conference record, winning the Big East Tournament and claiming a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While St. John's was upset in the second round by No. 10 seed Arkansas, the 2024-25 season marked the first time in six years that the program had made the NCAA Tournament and the first time in 10 years that it had done so without having to play in the First Four round. On the personal front, Pitino won the 2024-25 Naismith, AP and Big East Coach of the Year awards. St. John's is Pitino's sixth full-time men's college basketball head-coaching gig, with the Hall of Famer previously coaching three seasons at Iona before leaving for Queens in March 2023. St. John's had a gargantuan transfer portal class this offseason, reeling in former five-star recruits and now sophomores Ian Jackson (previously of North Carolina) and Joson Sanon (previously of Arizona State), former Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, former Cincinnati forward Dillon Mitchell and former Stanford wing Oziyah Sellers, among others. 247Sports ranks St. John's transfer class as the best in men's college basketball. While the Red Storm have minimal returning players, they have big man and 2024-25 All-Big East honoree Zuby Ejiofor back for his senior season. Next season, St. John's will square off against SEC powerhouses Alabama and Kentucky, among other notable out-of-conference matchups. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience College Basketball Big East St. John's Red Storm recommended Get more from College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
New York Post
08-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
St. John's gets verbal commitment from Swedish guard Casper Pohto
Access the St. John's beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Zach Braziller about the inside buzz on St. John's. TRY IT NOW Rick Pitino and St. John's continued to add to next year's already formidable roster on Saturday. The Red Storm landed a verbal commitment from Swedish guard Casper Pohto, he told The Post. The 6-foot-4 combo guard came to America at the age of 16 and spent this past season playing for Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas. He also played in high school at local powerhouse St. Benedict's Prep in Newark.
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Rick Pitino shuts down Knicks coaching job speculation: ‘Absolutely not'
St. John's head coach Rick Pitino made it clear he has no interest in returning to the NBA sidelines to coach the New York Knicks. 'Absolutely not,' Pitino said during Wednesday's Yankees-Guardians broadcast when asked about the Knicks' coaching vacancy. 'I think whoever comes in, if he doesn't get to the finals, it's going to be deemed an unsuccessful season,' said Pitino, who is a native of New York City. 'So, whoever comes in has got so much pressure on them to take this team to the next level.' Advertisement The Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday, just days after the team's first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 25 years. Thibodeau posted a 226-174 record over five seasons, including a 51-31 mark this year. He went 24-23 in the playoffs with New York. Pitino, 72, previously led the Knicks from 1987 to 1989, compiling a 90-74 record and making two playoff appearances. He just capped a stellar season at St. John's, guiding the Red Storm to a 31-5 record, their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019, and their first Big East title since 2000. He also earned both national and Big East Coach of the Year honors. Though his name surfaced in speculation, Pitino was never considered a serious candidate for the Knicks job. His focus remains on St. John's, which is expected to be a Big East favorite and likely begin the 2025-26 season ranked in the top five nationally.
