No. 5 St. John's enters Pitino's third season with highest preseason ranking in school history

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Expectations are soaring for the Red Storm entering their third season under 73-year-old Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino. With the country's top-rated transfer class surrounding Big East preseason player of the year Zuby Ejiofor, the Johnnies have the highest preseason ranking in school history. Picked to repeat as conference champion, St. John's aims for its third Final Four trip and first since 1985. With 11 newcomers, Pitino's toughest challenge will be rebuilding the tenacious defense that propelled last season's squad to a No. 2 seed and the program's first NCAA Tournament victory in 25 years.

Ejiofor (senior F, 6-9, 14.7 ppg). Team captain is a relentless force inside who averaged 8.1 rebounds per game last season and shot 58% from the field.

Bryce Hopkins (graduate F, 6-7, 17.0 ppg in 3 games). Played only 17 games at Providence the past two seasons because of injuries, but averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds in 50 games with Friars overall. First-team All-Big East in 2023.

Ian Jackson (sophomore G, 6-5, 11.9 ppg). Five-star recruit and McDonald's All-American transferred home to New York City after one season at North Carolina, where he scored 20 points eight times, shot 39.5% from beyond the arc and made ACC All-Rookie team.

Five of last season's top six scorers are gone, including Big East player of the year and second-team All-American RJ Luis Jr. (18.2 points, 7.2 rebounds per game). St. John's also lost versatile guard Kadary Richmond (12.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.0 steals) and three productive role players: Aaron Scott, Deivon Smith and Simeon Wilcher.

The touted transfer class includes five-star prospect Joson Sanon (11.9 ppg at Arizona State) and senior guard Oziyah Sellers (13.7 ppg at Stanford) to improve 3-point shooting, a major weakness last season. Joining them are experienced 6-foot-8 forward Dillon Mitchell (9.9 ppg, 6.9 rebounds at Cincinnati) and Big Sky player of the year Dylan Darling (19.8 ppg, 5.7 assists at Idaho State).

St. John’s opens Nov. 3 against Quinnipiac at home, then gets an early test versus No. 15 Alabama at Madison Square Garden five days later. The nonconference schedule also features matchups with No. 16 Iowa State in Las Vegas and No. 9 Kentucky in Atlanta.

Big East showdowns against No. 4 UConn loom on Feb. 6 and Feb. 25. Pitino's son, Richard, is the new coach at Xavier and they'll square off twice in conference play.

The last time St. John's was picked atop Big East preseason coaches' poll was 1991-92. ... Pitino ranks fifth in Division I history and first among active coaches with 885 wins. Seeking his 25th NCAA Tournament appearance. ... St. John's went 21-0 in New York City last season. ... Ejiofor was nation’s top offensive rebounder with 4.4 per game.

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