It can be easy to forget that last season’s St. John’s team got off to a similar start as this one.
Last year, St. John’s began 5-2, with both losses coming during an eye-opening 1-2 trip to the Bahamas.
That turned out to be the turning point for the Johnnies, who rallied from there to finish 31-5 and win the Big East’s regular season and conference tournament championships.
So after the present-day Red Storm lost two of three at the Players Era Championship tournament in Las Vegas last week, dropping their record to 4-3, head coach Rick Pitino showed his players footage from last season’s team as a reminder of how much can change.
“I really like this team a lot,” Pitino said before Saturday night’s game against Ole Miss at Madison Square Garden.
“I think they’re in the same boat as last year’s team. Last year’s team, at this time, was not a great defensive team, was not a great defensive rebounding team. We have to improve in that area, and we’ve made great strides this week with practice.”
St. John’s began the season ranked No. 5, but after last week’s losses to No. 15 Iowa State and No. 21 Auburn, the Johnnies fell to No. 23 in the latest AP poll.
All three of the Red Storm’s defeats have come against ranked opponents — they also fell, 103-96, to then-No. 15 Alabama last month — and in all three games, they were out-rebounded.
In all three games, they surrendered at least 83 points.
And in all three games, they blew a second-half lead, including an 11-point advantage to Auburn.
After that loss to Auburn, senior forward/center Zuby Ejiofor — the only starter who returned from last season — addressed his teammates to stress a sense of urgency.
“We don’t want to just talk about last year’s team compared to this year’s team,” Ejiofor said. “It’s two different teams. I was just trying to relate my thoughts and my message to the rest of the guys that it’s gonna be a long year, especially if we don’t pick it up defensively. That’s where it’s going to have to start.”
Many touted the St. John’s transfer class as the best in the country, though the bulk of the additions were offensive-first players. Backcourt defense in particular has been a struggle.
“There’s a disappointment in the locker room, for sure,” said senior point guard Dylan Darling. “We’re still learning how to win, and there’s things that we’re not doing in order to win, which is closing out possessions, taking care of the ball and defending for the full 30 seconds.”
Their next test comes against an unranked Ole Miss team navigating its own set of challenges. After winning its first five games, Ole Miss (5-3) dropped three in a row to Iowa, Utah and Miami.
Following Tuesday’s 75-66 loss to Miami, senior guard A.J. Storr was asked how to fix the Rebels’ lack of effort. In a viral moment, Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard interjected and said, “We can play different players.”
The vibes around St. John’s are better, even if the two teams’ records are similar.
“This is a very easy team to coach,” Pitino said. “The reason I think we’re gonna be a very good basketball team is they want it as much as the coaching staff. They know [defensive rebounding is] a weakness. They know talking defensively is a weakness. And they’re willing to make the corrections.”
That’s why Pitino’s expectations haven’t wavered.
“They have weaknesses like last year’s team, but I think they will develop into a very strong team [that is] capable of winning the Big East again,” Pitino said, adding, “We have a very high ceiling, and we’re nowhere near the ceiling yet.”
READY TO GO
A leg injury limited Darling to only seven minutes in last week’s loss to Auburn, and his attempt to return in the second half of that game lasted just two minutes.
But Pitino and Darling both said the point guard is ready to go Saturday against Ole Miss.
“He practiced the next day when he got back,” Pitino said.
The injury involved the IT band behind Darling’s knee, said the senior, who added that it occurred while he was warming up. He suspected it was related to a calf strain that kept him out of last month’s loss to Alabama.
Darling, the only true point guard in the rotation, has started each of the Johnnies’ last five games.
FAMILIAR FACES
Storr played as a freshman at St. John’s in 2022-23 before transferring to Wisconsin after Pitino’s arrival.
Ole Miss is Storr’s fourth school in four years, as he also played at Kansas last season. His 13.8 points per game are tied for the Ole Miss lead.
“He’s a great scorer,” Pitino said. “He’s a great one-on-one basketball player.”
St. John’s forward Dillon Mitchell, meanwhile, played under Beard as a freshman at Texas in 2022-23. That Longhorns team advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament.
