When St John’s University hired legendary basketball head coach Rick Pitino to lead the men’s basketball team, expectations were immediately raised for the Red Storm. The team was 18-15 a year ago and did not make a postseason appearance.
With a 10-4 record to begin the 2023-2024 college basketball season, including 2-1 in the Big East Conference, the team is off to a good start. But can Coach Pitino and the Red Storm compete with the best teams in the Big East?
They battled the 2023 NCAA champion Connecticut Huskies on the road two days before Christmas, but UConn pulled out a 69-65 win. Despite the loss, the team has won four out of five, defeating Fordham, Xavier, Hofstra, and Butler on Tuesday, where the Red Storm earned an 86-70 victory at Carnesecca Arena in Queens, New York.
They were led by senior guard Daniss Jenkins who scored 17 points and added 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Senior big man Joel Soriano posted 14 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. RJ Luis Jr., an uber-athletic 6-7 sophomore guard contributed 14 points in his second game as a starter.
From Yonkers, New York, Soriano is the focal point of the Red Storm’s attack on both ends of the floor, leading the team with 17.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks.
Butler senior Chris Ledlum, a transfer from Harvard University, was questionable before the game against Butler with a sprained ankle after missing the previous game against Hofstra, but grinded out a strong 13-point, 11-rebound performance.
“I thought Ledlum deserved a lot of credit,” said Pitino. “He’s only about 70% back and he said, ‘I’ll play through it, coach.’ Our trainers did a great job in getting him ready. He gutted it out and we needed that.”
The Red Storm will face the Villanova Wildcats on the road this Saturday (1 p.m.).
