St. John's coach Rick Pitino's only measure of success: Did you make the NCAA Tournament?

Rick Pitino doesn’t care about The Associated Press preseason Top 25 that came out last week nor does he pay much mind to the Big East preseason coaches poll that was released on Tuesday. The only number that matters to St. John’s new coach is the number 1 and the only way he measures a successful season is whether it comes with a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“With any team, you must make the NCAA Tournament to be successful — that’s the gauge,” the Hall of Famer said during Tuesday’s Big East media day at the Garden. “Getting in the tournament is crucial. It’s what gives you hope and dreams.

“Success means getting into the tournament and that is going to be difficult in this conference because it’s a grind,” he added. “I know this and I haven’t even coached one [St. John’s] game.”

The Red Storm was tabbed fifth of 11 in the coaches poll a week after landing three spots out of the Top 25 in the national rankings. Fifth-ranked Marquette received seven first-place votes and was tabbed for first place in the conference, followed closely by eighth-ranked Creighton, which got the other four first-place votes. No. 6 Connecticut came in third and No. 22 Villanova fourth. The coaches placed Seton Hall ninth in the conference.

St. John’s center Joel Soriano was designated a preseason all-conference first-teamer and Marquette guard Tyler Kolek was voted preseason Player of the Year.

The Red Storm opens the regular season by hosting Stony Brook Nov. 7 at Carnesecca Arena.

If it seems unexpected that a squad with 12 new players, including 10 transfers, has such a high profile, the reason is Pitino. He has taken teams to seven Final Fours and won national championship games on the court twice. Last season, his Iona team was the only foe to lead UConn at halftime before the Huskies won the national title.

“You could see how well-prepared [Iona] was,” Huskies coach Dan Hurley said. “You could see that they had a philosophy that fit their personnel and that they weren’t going to make a lot of mistakes.”

In addition to Pitino’s arrival making St. John’s stronger — and thus an already formidable Big East even more formidable — it may have some ancillary benefits for all in the conference. The Big East will be negotiating a new broadcast rights deal — likely re-upping with Fox — and having a strong player in the nation’s biggest television market adds to its appeal.

With the power basketball conferences undergoing major expansions recently, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman suggested that Gonzaga would be “an excellent fit” philosophically but added that there are concerns “related to travel.” Gonzaga is reportedly being courted by the Big 12.

For the St. John’s players, being voted fifth in the conference by the coaches could serve as “extra motivation,” as Soriano put it. Still there already is plenty. Combo guard Naheim Alleyne was on the UConn national champ before transferring and point guard Daniss Jenkins and fellow Iona transfers Cruz Davis and Sadiku Ibine Ayo played in the tournament, but the other Storm players haven’t had a winning experience.

“What worries me about my team — awesome young men — is the fact all of them haven’t won big with the exception of Naheim,” Pitino said. “Naheim and the Iona players have won and understand defensively what it takes to win. The other guys don’t right now.”

Jenkins believes this — transfers who covet a winning experience — will serve the Storm well.

“In college basketball you really don't get respect until you win,” he said. “That’s what a lot of our guys are still searching for. They’ve been great college players, great teammates, things like that. But some of them haven’t won and are here to prove they can win on the highest level.”

Pitino wants that for all of them and so many people in his life.

“St. John’s is special,” he said, “and for me, building St. John’s up to a national power would just be an incredible experience for everyone that I call a friend or family member.”

Dingle to miss exhibition. Jordan Dingle could return to practice from a shoulder injury this week but won’t play in Sunday’s exhibition game against Division II Pace, Pitino said. “We’ll err on the side of caution,” Pitino said. “Even if he was ready to come back this week, I probably wouldn't play him against Pace on Sunday.” Those minutes will likely go to Simeon Wilcher, Brady Dunlap and Sean Conway, he added . . .  RJ Luis (broken hand) will have an X-ray Wednesday and Pitino expects to have him back practicing in two weeks and ready to play in the three-game Charleston Classic Nov. 16-19 . . .   Davis (broken hand) is expected to practice without contact in a week.

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.