St. John’s basketball brings in a dangerous roster looking to make it deep into the tournament in year 2 of Rick Pitino.
The tradition continues! CBB Review is again ranking the top 100 teams heading into the new college basketball season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: St. John’s basketball.
St. John’s basketball made a splash, hiring one of the most successful coaches in college basketball in Rick Pitino. They won 20 games, but it wasn’t enough to make a tournament. This offseason, Pitino went into the portal and pulled out two stars in Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith. Both can fill up the stat sheet, and Richmond has a serious chance to be the Big East player of the year.
They lost a lot from last year, but one player they did bring back is Zuby Ejiofor. Many people are expecting a breakout season from the big man after a promising offseason. He’ll compete with Vince Iwuchukwu, a former highly-ranked recruit for those minutes.
The non-conference has some great tests, most notably the potential back-to-backs with Baylor and Tennessee. We should have a pretty good idea of how good this St. John’s team is and its ceiling after those two.
Let’s take a look at Pitino’s first year with a team vs. second year:
- Boston University: 17-9 to 21-9
- Providence: 17-14 to 25-9 (and a final 4)
- Kentucky: 14-14 to 22-6
- Louisville: 19-13 to 25-7
- Iona: 12-6 to 25-8
Expect the same jump this time around. This St. John’s team is dangerous, don’t be surprised if they are still alive in the second weekend in March.
Click here to learn more about our preseason top 100 teams heading into the 2024-25 college basketball season.
Head coach: Rick Pitino (2nd season at St. John’s, 37th season overall)
2023-24 record: 20-13 (11-9)
2024 postseason finish: No postseason
Notable departures:
- Daniss Jenkins (14.9 PPG, 5.4 APG, 3.5 RPG)
- Joel Soriano (13.8 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 1.5 APG)
- Jordan Dingle (11.6 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.7 APG)
- Chris Ledlum (9.5 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.8 APG)
- Nahiem Alleyne (6.4 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.0 APG)
- Glenn Taylor Jr. (4.4 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.2 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. New Mexico (Nov. 17)
- vs. Baylor (Nov. 21)
- vs. Tennessee OR Virginia (Nov. 22)
- vs. Georgia (Nov. 24)
- vs. Kansas State (Dec. 7)
Projected Rotation
PG: Deivon Smith (6-0, 175, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 13.3 PPG, 7.1 APG, 6.3 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 46.7 FG%, 40.8 3P% (Utah)
SG: Kadary Richmond (6-6, 205, Gr.-Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 15.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 5.1 APG, 2.2 SPG, 44.1 FG%, 80.7 FT% (Seton Hall)
SF: RJ Luis Jr. (6-7, 215, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 10.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.2 SPG, 42.2 FG%
PF: Aaron Scott (6-7, 210, Sr.)
2023-24 stats: 11.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.3 BPG, 1.1 SPG, 41.9 FG%, 37.0 3P% (North Texas)
C: Zuby Ejiofor (6-9, 240, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 4.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.7 APG, 37.5 3P%
6: Simeon Wilcher (6-4, 190, So.)
2023-24 stats: 2.8 PPG, 1.1 APG, 0.9 RPG, 41.7 3P%
7: Vince Iwuchukwu (7-1, 250, Jr.)
2023-24 stats: 5.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.6 APG, 50.4 FG%, 69.7 FT% (USC)
8: Jaiden Glover (6-4, 205, Fr.)
247Sports Composite #78 ranked recruit
9: Ruben Prey (6-10, 230, Fr.)
International Recruit
10: Brady Dunlap (6-7, 190, So.)
2023-24 stats: 3.2 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 0.2 APG
St. John’s Basketball Team MVP: Kadary Richmond
EvanMiya is an analytical model that ranks every player in college basketball next season, and the model ranked Richmond as the 9th best player in all of college basketball. He was terrific on both ends of the floor last year, driving to the hoop and making tough shots, and also being a defensive pest.
Everything will run through Richmond, and the team’s success will be based on how good Richmond is. He’ll also get to play against his former team, Seton Hall, twice next year, which will be a fun environment.
St. John’s Basketball make-or-break player: Zuby Ejiofor
Joel Soriano was terrific for St. John’s basketball the past few seasons, but he’s now gone. They’ll look to the former Kansas Jayhawk to fill his role. Ejiofor looked promising in the “secret” scrimmage against Rutgers and has the size and athleticism to be dominant on both ends of the floor. We didn’t see much last year, but with if anyone can break out, it’s him.
Key analytic: Assists per game
Last season, St. John’s basketball was 36th in the country with 15.7 assists per game. The two transfers, Richmond and Smith, averaged a combined 12.2 a game. So, expect that number to go up. This team will move the ball well and make smart plays, and that’s going to lead them to success.
St. John’s Basketball 2024-25 projections
Projected conference finish: 4th in the Big East
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Elite 8 Exit