The Portal has been Integral to Pitino’s Early Success at St. John’s

In head coach Rick Pitino’s first season at the helm of St. John’s, he led the program to a 20-13 record which was the first time the Red Storm had reached 20 wins since 2018-19 under Chris Mullin.

Of course, with it being Pitino’s first season in Queens, NY, the transfer portal was all important to building out a competitive roster in a high-major conference like the Big East.

Following his head coach over from Iona, Daniss Jenkins was an instant impact addition for St. John’s and led the team in offensive production last season with 14.9 PPG and 5.4 APG.

The second-leading scorer in the nation during the 2022-23 season in Penn transfer Jordan Dingle made for a solid No. 2 guard beside Jenkins. Though he struggled to find his footing throughout the early 2023-24 season in Queens, Dingle finished averaging 11.6 PPG while shooting 40% from the field.

Though he battled injuries and missed the second half of the season with shin surgery, the talent of UMass transfer RJ Luis was evident early after opening the season with five straight double-digit scoring performances.

Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum was a consistent contributor on the interior with five double-doubles on the season as the 6-foot-6 forward averaged 9.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG.

Additionally, transfer portal recruits like UConn’s Nahiem Alleyne, Kansas’ Zuby Ejiofor, and Oregon State’s Glenn Taylor Jr. each saw minutes off the bench for Pitino throughout last season.

Though the Red Storm met expectations with a fifth-place finish in the Big East it wasn’t enough to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as St. John’s fell in the semifinals at the conference Championship.

Back to the drawing board, Pitino and his staff brought in a four man transfer class this offseason to build on the already established core developed during his first season in charge.

While Luis has returned from injury this season to lead the scoring with 16.9 PPG, Ejiofor has seen major improvements and is averaging career-highs of 14.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 2.3 BKPG.

“Nobody on the team works like Zuby [Ejiofor] and I truly believe that if some of our players would work like him they’d be the top players in the Big East,” Pitino said. “He’s relentless in everything he does and he doesn’t get many breaks. If you can get a group that has that skill of working hard, you’ve got a great team.”

With St. John’s now 8-2 to start the season after last night’s 99-77 win over Bryant, the work Pitino and his staff did in the transfer portal this past offseason was highlighted amidst the performance.

Ejiofor managed his fourth double-double of the year with 22 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots to lead all scorers and Luis added 17 points and three assists on 7-for-16 shooting.

North Texas transfer Aaron Scott contributed a double-double of his own with 17 points, 10 boards and two steals. However, it was Utah transfer Deivon Smith who stole the show with an authoritative put back slam midway though the second half before going on to finish with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.

“I think Deivon [Smith] pushes the pace, gets everybody to play fast and our style,” Pitino said. “To be honest with you [though], I’ve seen a lot of great plays in my time but what he did on that follow up was not to be believed. I don’t know any player I’ve coached that could get up that high, I was speechless when I saw that.”

Arriving from Seton Hall this past offseason, Kadary Richmond has seen slightly less production with a move across the conference but has still been a consistent all-around piece.

Averaging 10.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 4.9 APG, Richmond is still filling up the statsheet on a nightly basis but Pitino would like to see more and that’s been a product of the transition.

“[Richmond] is just adjusting to a new style,” Pitino said. “If he would get some [work ethic] in him, and it’s not just him, but a guy like Kadary could be lethal.”

Against Bryant, the Brooklyn, NY native managed just nine points on 4-for-9 shooting and added three rebounds, five assists and two steals coming off a 13-point effort in a win over Kansas State.

With Big East play next up on the schedule as St. John’s prepares for trips to DePaul and Providence on the back of a three-game win streak, Pitino likes where his program is at.

Undoubtedly, there’s still a lot of development left on the table for these Red Storm transfer newcomers but with St. John’s just outside the national rankings in the latest AP Poll it’s easy to see the growth from last season. 

“I think we’re more than ready [for Big East play],” Pitino said. “We’re playing really good offensive basketball, sharing the ball, a lot of assists and moving the ball. Obviously, [we] want to dominate for 40 minutes and I wish we could dominate every minute of the game but we’re not there yet.”

“But, it’s only my second year, give me a chance I’m a young coach trying to get a break in life,” Pitino later joked.

 

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