Rick Pitino’s roster moves have St. John’s ‘right back’ in March Madness conversation

2 weeks ago 78

The expectations should beryllium significant, but not fantastical.

St. John’s has enactment unneurotic a roster that is NCAA Tournament-caliber connected insubstantial and tin perchance situation to beryllium adjacent the bottommost of top-25 rankings lists.

But fans shouldn’t expect magic successful Year 1 of the Rick Pitino era, either.

That, essentially, was the feedback The Post received aft it polled 3 assemblage hoops analysts — Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, John Fanta of Fox Sports and Travis Branham of 247Sports — and 3 assemblage coaches, connected information of anonymity.

St. John’s should beryllium capable to decorativeness successful the apical 5 of what is expected to beryllium a loaded Big East aft bringing successful 11 caller players successful the 2 months since Pitino was hired.

“They person an all-time large coach, truthful helium tin truly maximize what they have,” 1 Big East manager said. “I deliberation Marquette, Xavier, UConn, Creighton perchance are each up of them. But aft that, I don’t spot wherefore they couldn’t enactment themselves successful presumption to beryllium top-six astatine the precise least. They’ll beryllium close backmost successful the speech arsenic being a postseason team.”

Added Rothstein: “They’re a squad present that should beryllium projected arsenic an NCAA Tournament team.”

Pitino’s sanction inactive resonates, adjacent astatine the property of 70 and six years removed from past coaching astatine the high-major level, according to Branham.

His past of subordinate improvement and producing pros remains enticing. In an highly abbreviated play of time, helium was capable to rise the endowment level of the program.

Pitino’s transportation people is ranked 4th nationally by 247Sports, the top-ranking assets for recruiting.

Of the 10 transfers brought successful by St. John’s, six are considered four-stars ranking successful the top-150. The 1 precocious schoolhouse prospect, four-star helping Brady Dunlap, is simply a top-150 recruit. On insubstantial astatine least, Pitino and his unit did good flipping the roster and surrounding standout large antheral Joel Soriano, an All-Big East second-team enactment past year, with a susceptible supporting cast.

The cardinal addition, the coaches and analysts agreed, was Jordan Dingle, the Ivy League Player of the Year and the nation’s second-leading scorer a twelvemonth agone astatine 23.4 points per crippled connected 46.4 percent shooting.

A Valley Stream, N.Y. native, Dingle heard from schools successful each powerfulness league successful the country. Oregon, UCLA, Arkansas and Texas were among the funny parties.

Rothstein believes his summation gives St. John’s 2 all-league caliber players successful Soriano and Dingle, a perchance dynamic inside-out duo.

A fewer of the coaches wondered astir his accommodation to moving up from the Ivy League to 1 of the premier conferences successful the country, but the 6-foot-3 defender intelligibly raises the ceiling for the programme adjacent winter.

“When they got Dingle, different Big East coaches said, ‘Yeah, this is going to beryllium a occupation for us,’ ” Fanta said. “That’s a immense chip.”

One of the coaches was highest connected 2 of the younger additions: UMass transportation RJ Luis and Dunlap.

The uber-talented 6-7 Luis, who besides considered Louisville and Texas A&M, was an All-Atlantic 10 freshman squad selection. Dunlap was signed with Notre Dame earlier Mike Brey’s departure.

He picked St. John’s implicit Villanova, North Carolina, Nebraska and Penn State.

“I deliberation [Luis] is the champion semipermanent prospect. I deliberation the kid is simply a pro,” the manager said. “I similar Dunlap a lot. We cognize what Pitino has done with shooters akin to him. I’m a immense instrumentality of his. To get him truthful late, it’s a bully get.”

Pitino peculiarly focused connected adding shooting, bringing successful a fig of players, from Dingle to Connecticut transportation Nahiem Alleyne to Iona transportation Daniss Jenkins and Dunlap, who tin changeable it from deep.

St. John’s was 232nd successful the federation successful 3-point shooting a twelvemonth agone astatine 33.1 percent.

Even worse, it lone attempted 17.7 a game, which was 322nd successful the country. Teams often packed the overgarment against the Johnnies, daring them to sprout from the perimeter.

That volition beryllium a spot of adjacent year’s team.

Harvard Westlake defender Brady Dunlap has committed to St. John's.

Last season’s St. John’s players deed 407 vocation 3-pointers and the newcomers person made 795, and that doesn’t see Dunlap.

“Where successful the past a batch of teams played portion against St. John’s, they’re not going to beryllium playing portion against them adjacent year, due to the fact that you got guys who are going to marque shots,” 1 of the coaches said. “When you person 3 oregon 4 guys who tin shoot, past it becomes harder to defender a large feline oregon it becomes harder to defender a penetrating guard, due to the fact that the defence is stretched out. They’re disquieted astir guarding shooters. St. John’s hasn’t had that.”

There are a fewer areas of concern. It’s a wholly caller team, truthful it could instrumentality clip for the radical to go cohesive.

Another is the bladed frontcourt. Iona 6-9 transportation Quinn Slazinski lone played successful 7 games past twelvemonth for the Gaels owed to a ft injury.

Kansas transportation guardant Zuby Ejiofor, portion a talented erstwhile top-50 recruit, is earthy and averaged conscionable 5.2 minutes successful his 1 play for the Jayhawks.

A batch volition beryllium riding connected Soriano’s wide shoulders arsenic the Red Storm volition apt play tiny often with Luis and talented Oregon State helping Glenn Thomas Jr. astatine the 3 and the 4.

“I tin spot that being a problem,” different Big East manager said. “And past you’ve got a batch of akin guys. They’ve added similar 7 perimeter players. How galore of them are going to beryllium wholly unsocial from each other? That would beryllium my different thing, too.”

Offseason hype, it should beryllium noted, is not needfully caller for St. John’s. It was supposedly 1 of the spring’s winners past year, aft landing highly regarded transfers David Jones and Andre Curbelo and keeping overmuch of the roster intact.

It evidently didn’t translate. Pitino wouldn’t beryllium astatine St. John’s otherwise.

This, however, feels different.

There isn’t immoderate interest astir coaching, not with a fable similar Pitino moving the show.

The roster feels similar it fits, a equilibrium betwixt shooters and slashers, experienced and young players with upside.

“Fact of the substance is Coach Pitino is going to manager them up. They’re going to get better,” 1 of the assemblage coaches said. “You’re going to spot a much organized team. It’s not going to beryllium arsenic chaotic arsenic it was. It’s going to beryllium much cleaned up.”

Said Fanta: “It is simply a tourney team. Dingle is going to beryllium 1 of the champion guards successful the Big East. So you person 1 of the champion guards successful the Big East, you person 1 of the champion bigs successful the Big East [in Soriano] and you person 1 of the champion coaches successful the Big East.”

The manager is evidently the driving unit down each the optimism.

But players triumph games — and the experts judge St. John’s has capable of them to instrumentality to March Madness.