Rick Pitino era at St. John's officially gets underway Tuesday night
St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino reacts during the second half of an NCAA men's basketball exhibition game against Pace at Carnesecca Arena on Oct. 29. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It begins now.
From the day that St. John’s hired Rick Pitino to be head coach and the Hall of Famer vowed, “St. John’s will be back — I guarantee it,” this has become the most-anticipated college basketball season in years.
And it starts Tuesday night at Carnesecca Arena with a 7 p.m. non-conference game against Stony Brook, where a sellout crowd of 5,602 is expected to see the christening of a new age for the Red Storm.
St. John’s, 18-15 for Mike Anderson before Pitino was brought in following an NCAA Tournament appearance with Iona, has been to three NCAA Tournament in the past 20 years and last won a tourney game in 2000.
Joel Soriano, the starting center and one of the few players Pitino invited to return, was asked Monday about the feeling of excitement within the team and replied, “It’s the start of a new era for our team.”
“I have a Hall of Fame coach as my coach so I'm very excited about that,” Soriano added. “But there's also a lot of expectations for us this year [and] we're all trying to reach that. So tomorrow is going be a big step for us and the start of something. I'm very excited for that.”
Since Pitino declared that St. John’s would rise again, much has happened to build the anticipation. He’s brought in 10 transfers and two blue-chip high school recruits. A tougher non-conference slate is installed. The Storm has moved the majority of its games from Carnesecca to Madison Square Garden. And it won a thrilling double-overtime exhibition against a solid Rutgers team on Oct. 21.
On Monday he said that either Glenn Taylor Jr. — who played well against the Knights — or Sean Conway will be the fifth starter against the Seawolves and join the four previously named: Soriano, Nahiem Alleyne, Daniss Jenkins and Chris Ledlum.
Pitino joining the Red Storm isn’t just a big story here. It has drawn attention nationwide and St. John’s opens the season three spots out of the Top 25 in the national rankings.
He has chosen to meet all the hype and expectation with pleas for patience.
“This is a very good basketball team [but] our anticipation is this team is not going to reach their potential until mid-January, early February,” Pitino said. “Most of my teams don't play well in the beginning; with the exception of maybe one or two teams in my coaching career, they always get better come league play and in January and February. It takes time to learn all the different defenses takes time to learn all the offenses.
“So we're not going to look great early on but we will give 100% of hustle. Fans are going to like what they see from an intensity standpoint, from a hustle standpoint.”
Stony Brook was beset by injuries last season, finished 11-22 and is picked ninth of 14 in the Coastal Athletic Association in a preseason poll of conference coaches. Aaron Clarke and Dean Noll, who were to be last season’s starting backcourt, are both healthy after injuries limited them to a combined three games.
Pitino is treating the Seawolves as a challenge despite being an overwhelming favorite. And he still speaks of St. John’s return to the upper echelon of college basketball, but says it won’t happen all at once.
“You’re taking over a program that's reached its nadir,” he explained. “Why? The recruitment of players that aren’t bought into this brand, losing in the in the conference, poor facilities, poor brand. And everything's got to be built — not just the player development part. . . . We’re building a first class operation, and it takes time for all of that but we're going to get it done. There's not a doubt in my mind.”
Dingle ready for action
Pitino said Valley Stream product Jordan Dingle, the top returning Division I scorer who has been out with a shoulder injury, will play Tuesday. . . . Cruz Davis is back from his broken hand and could play. RJ Luis, who also had a broken hand, could practice next week.
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.
