Led by Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, St. John’s had reasonably high hopes they could win the NCAA men’s title this season. After claiming last season’s Big East Conference regular season and tournament championships, coupled with the return of the senior center Zuby Ejiofor, voted by Big East head coaches as the conference’s 2025-2026 Preseason Player of the Year entering this season, why wouldn’t they expect to cut down the nets on April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, site of this year’s Final Four.
They still believe winning the national championship is possible, but the Red Storm aren’t currently playing at that level. They are 10-5 after defeating Butler 84-70 on the road on Tuesday, having begun this season with a No. 5 national ranking in the Associated Press preseason poll and picked to repeat as conference champs. They entered Tuesday’s game in Indianapolis against Big East opponent Butler, ranked No. 34 in the NCAA’s net rankings.
A tough pre-conference schedule led to a series of losses to other ranked teams: falling to Alabama at Madison Square Garden, losing two out of three in the Player Era Festival in Las Vegas to Iowa State and Auburn, all in November, and a loss to Kentucky in Atlanta last month, then a lackluster 77-71 defeat to Providence at MSG on Saturday, their worst loss of the season.
St. John’s has four new starters this season, all from the transfer portal. Ejiofor is the only starter from last season’s team. So building cohesion and establishing roles often takes longer than anticipated. And it has for the Red Storm. Ejiofor leads St. John’s in scoring, rebounds, and assists, with his numbers at 15.9, 7.9, and 3.0, respectively.
However, their most obvious flaw is their inconsistent effectiveness at the point guard position. Bronx native, sophomore Ian Jackson, a North Carolina Tar Heel transfer, and junior Dylan Darling, who was last season’s Big Sky Conference Player of the Year at Idaho State, shared that Jackson is at his best as a scorer, not a facilitator. He was averaging 11.4 points on 44.6% shooting, including 35.7% from three in 19.8 minutes per game before meeting Butler.
Darling, who averaged 19.8 points for mid-major Idaho State last season, was averaging only 5.5 points while shooting a low 40.7% from the field entering the game versus Butler.
Across the Hudson River, Queens, New York native Shaheen Holloway has led the Seton Hall Pirates to a surprising 13-2 record, including overcoming a 16-point second-half deficit to defeat Creighton on Sunday at Prudential Center in Newark. St. John’s and Seton Hall will meet at Madison Square Garden on January 20.