The Rick Pitino-led St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball program was tied for first place in the Big East Conference with a record of 4-1 on January 10.
Pitino, in his first year at St. John’s, was garnering a lot of attention and so was the basketball team. Now, after relinquishing a 19-point lead on Sunday night in a 68-62 loss to Seton Hall, the Red Storm have dropped eight of their last 10 Big East games, are 14-2 overall, and 6-9 in conference play heading into last night’s game versus Georgetown on the road.
Following St. John’s strong start, the expectations coming into this season were that they would be an NCAA Tournament contender. Pitino’s roster was built primarily through the transfer portal, bringing in a bevy of experienced upperclassmen. But they haven’t produced or gelled as he envisioned.
Fifth-year senior Joel Soriano is emblematic of Pitino’s irritation. Soriano, the one player Pitino wanted to return to St John’s, was scoring less (15.0) this season than he did a season ago (15.2), and rebounding at a much lower rate—9.4 compared to 11.9. Soriano was benched in the loss to Providence for sophomore forward Zuby Ejiofor.
“This has been the most unenjoyable experience I’ve had since I’ve been coaching,” Pitino, who began his coaching career in 1978, said on Sunday.
“We are so non-athletic that we can’t guard anybody without fouling and really is not about losing because even in winning, when we watch the film, I see unathletic plays,” he pointed out. “I see people that don’t handle the ball, that’s just interested in taking quick shots. So it’s been a disappointing year.”
The 71-year-old Pitino’s comments are harsh and seem to fit a time 30 or more years ago when he was in his early 40s and boisterous coaches like the late Bob Knight were still at Indiana. Will it motivate some of the players to perform better? Probably. But it may force others to check out as well, and it certainly does not seem like the best recruiting tool to land some of the best high school players and transfers for the 2024-2025 season.
Of St. John’s nine conference losses before facing Georgetown, five had been by six points or less, including one-point losses to nationally ranked No. 7 Marquette and No. 15 Creighton (who took down No. 1 Connecticut on Tuesday by 85-66), a three-point loss to Providence, and a four-point loss to Connecticut.
With four games remaining, the Red Storm will need to win the Big East Tournament to receive a berth into the NCAA Tournament’s field of 68 as they have no chance of being selected as an at-large team.