Better Know a Team: St. John’s

Pictured: 2 GOATs

The year 2 Pitino jump was very real. After flying under-the-radar this time last season, Rick & Co. now have the crushing weight of lofty expectations. Can the Johnnies deliver again?

Last Year’s Record: 31-5 (18-2) 1st Place, Round of 32 Loss

It was a banner year for the boys from Queens. Two banners to be exact, as the Johnnies posted a Big East double, en route to a 2-seed in the NCAAT. Unfortunately, the magical season ended in heartbreak, with the Johnnies stymied by the length and athleticism of John Calipari’s Arkansas in the Round of 32 at the Dunk, in front of a pro-Johnnies crowd. The Johnnies ultimately lost by 9, but the game was close late.

We always knew shooting would be a struggle for these Johnnies, and even still, they turned in their single-worst shooting performance of the season versus Arkansas, 21-75 (28%) from the field, 2-22 (9.1%) from deep. The Johnnies’ star and Big East Player of the year RJ Luis led the futility, shooting 3-17, leading the Johnnies faithful to cringe at the mere thought of ever celebrating St. Patrick’s Day again. Had the team just shot something closer to its averages (44.5/30.1), the Johnnies would have had their first Sweet 16 berth since 1999.

C’est la vie. As it is, this team got its first NCAAT win since 2000, when it was also a 2-seed. Regardless of the ending, I will always remember this team fondly. It was a roller coaster ride from the lows of losing to Georgia in the Bahamas, to the highs of winning a Big East double and securing a 2-seed in the NCAAT. Off-the-court, you’d be hard-pressed to argue any fan base had more fun following their team around, as Johnnies fans showed up in force to the Bahamas, to the NCAAT, and almost every game in between.

The Johnnies also cleaned up in the post-season awards, with RJ Luis winning BE POY, Zuby Ejiofor winning Most Improved, Zuby and RJ making All-Big East First Team, Kadary Richmond making Second Team, and of course Rick Pitino winning Big East Coach of the Year, Naismith Coach of the Year, AP Coach of the Year, and the USBWA’s Henry Iba Award for the best coach.

Preseason Metrics (last season final):
Torvik: 8 (16)
KenPom: 16 (14)
EvanMiya: 15 (8)

Coach: The GOAT Rick Pitino, Year 3

What can be said about Rick? Still doesn’t feel real every time I see him roaming the sidelines. Who knows how many years we have left with him, so I intend to savor every minute of it. With Rick, this team will never be worse than 4th in the Big East.

The Rick Pitino year 2 bounce was all too real for St. John’s opponents. In the KenPom era, Rick took Louisville from 61st in KenPom to 10th, Iona from 178th to 89th, and now St. John’s from 21st to 14th, the size of which belies the true nature of the jump from 20-13 (11-9) to 31-5 (18-2), a Big East double, and going from NCAAT snub to a 2-seed.

The biggest difference for SJU year-over-year was that they were ready to go from opening night in year 2. Having 3 key pieces (Ejiofor, Luis and Simeon Wilcher) return certainly helped, but the Johnnies also had to integrate two PGs (Deivon Smith and Kadary Richmond) and the starting 4 (Aaron Scott). Rick spoke before last season about how he felt year 1 was a learning experience, and he definitely seemed more prepared to integrate a bunch of new players. I expect he’s continued to learn, and this team will be ready despite even less continuity than last season.There’s arguably less continuity this season, so having this team ready to play tonight or–at least by Saturday afternoon when the 15th-ranked Crimson Tide come to the Garden.

Roster:

Starters
PG: Ian Jackson (So.) 6’4” 190 lbs.
SG: Oziyah Sellers (Sr.) 6’5” 185 lbs.
SF: Bryce Hopkins (Gr.) 6’7” 220 lbs.
PF: Dillon Mitchell (Sr.) 6’8” 210 lbs.
C: Zuby Ejiofor (Sr.) 6’9” 240 lbs.

Rotation Bench
G/F Joson Sanon (So.) 6’5” 190 lbs.
PG Dylan Darling (R-Jr.) 6’1” 180 lbs.
F/C Ruben Prey (So.) 6’10” 230 lbs.
G Kelvin Odih (Fr.) 6’4” 190 lbs.
G Elefteris Liotopoulos (So.) 6’4” 200 lbs.
F Sadiku Ibine Ayo (Sr.) 6’6” 215 lbs.

Bench Warmers
C Handje Tamba (Gr.) 6’11” 230 lbs.
PG Casper Pohto (Fr.) 6’4” unknown
F Imran Suljanovic (Fr.) 6’8” 200 lbs. (medical redshirt)
PG Fotios Konstantinidis (Fr) 6’2” 175 lbs. (walk-on)

See ya in Vegas!

Big Non-Conference Games:

11/8, TBD vs. Alabama (MSG), TBD

Players Era Festival
11/24, 4:30 pm EDT vs. Iowa St. (N), TruTV
11/25, 5:00 pm EDT vs. Baylor (N), TruTV
11/26-27, TBD, TBD, TBD (third Player’s Era game)

12/6, TBD vs. Ole Miss (MSG), TBD
12/20, TBD vs. Kentucky (N), CBS

What’s Old: 
Preseason BEPOY Zuby. Ejiofor. The Big East’s Most Improved Player in 2024-25, Zuby looks to turn in another stellar campaign. He could appear on many NPOY watch lists as the season progresses, and he’s certainly an All-American candidate.

I hate to be that guy, but I absolutely predicted this Zuby breakout. Dave and I were all over the Zuby breakout on the Eye on the Storm podcast and I also tweeted about it. I predicted 13 & 8 in that Tweet. He out-did my prediction, going for 14.7 & 8, adding in 1.4 BPG and 1.6 apg as well. So you might say “well Frank, you must be predicting BIG things from Zuby this year!” Yes and no.

Do I expect Zuby to regress? Absolutely not. If anything, I expect him to improve. The most obvious area for improvement is his 3-point shot. With frontcourt newcomer Dillon Mitchell a non-factor from behind the arc, Zuby improving on his 10-45 (22.2%) performance from behind the arc would do wonders to open up the offense.

The less obvious area is in facilitating. This isn’t so much a skills improvement, as it may be an area where we see some statistical improvement from 1.6 apg last season. Last year’s team shooting woes were well-documented, which did not leave many desirable kick-out opportunities. That is not the case this year, as the roster has more 3-point shooting. Zuby is also likely to draw more attention defensively, so I would expect more opportunities for him to kick the ball out, as well as more reliable conversions of those opportunities.

However, if you’re looking for Zuby to massively improve on 14.7 ppg and 8.1 rpg, I would temper those expectations. For starters, Zuby averaged 4.4 of those boards on the offensive end, which is why 25.2% of Zuby’s FGAs were on putbacks, 96th percentile in the country. With the shooting likely to be much improved this season, I wouldn’t expect Zuby to pull down as many offensive boards. Furthermore, when he’s playing alongside Mitchell, they will be sharing the rebounding load on both ends, limiting the statistical ceiling for both. Similarly, without reliable put-back opportunities on the offensive end, Zuby will need to look for alternative ways to boost his points total. If he can hit 3-pointers more reliably, we could see a boost in ppg. If not, I would expect his ppg to remain relatively flat.

But Zuby will be more efficient and more dynamic offensively, as he’ll get some freedom to move around when Mitchell is on the floor. He will still be elite defensively. His defensive versatility and ability to guard 1 through 5 will still be the anchor that makes the defense elite.

Portuguese forward/center Ruben Prey, Greek guard Lefteris Liotopoulos, and Pitino favorite, forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo round out the returning group. Together with Zuby, the returners accounted for just 24.1% of minutes last year, with Zuby alone accounting for 15.7%. That certainly doesn’t seem like a ton. However, last season saw us return only 21.8% of the prior year’s minutes, and that turned out pretty good for us. Also, we had 5 returners last year versus 4 returners this year, meaning on average the returners this year had bigger roles than the returners last year. All of which is to say, I understand the concern about continuity, but I think it’s a bit overblown. Last season not 1 returner made as big an impact in Pitino Year 1 as Zuby did last season. RJ Luis only averaged 20 mpg, and Zuby 11. The other returners were negligible. So we’re returning more quality minutes this season.

The other reason I think continuity concerns our overblown? Everyone is sleeping on my man Ruben Prey. The front court is crowded, no doubt, but Prey absolutely has a role to play. While he didn’t show it much last year, getting up just 17 3’s, and hitting just 3 (17.6%), Prey is a shooter. Given that Mitchell is a non-factor shooting, Hopkins has been an inconsistent shooter, and it remains to be seen if Zuby can improve on last year’s shooting performance, Prey will be able to carve out a role in the front court if he can hit shots. He’s also a solid rebounder, putting up 7.7 boards per 40 last season. Finally, he can provide the defensive versatility that Zuby provides when Zuby is on the bench, be it for a breather or the rare occasion Zuby finds himself in foul trouble (Zuby committed 4+ fouls in just 6 non-OT games last season, and never fouled out–in those games where he committed 4, while still averaging 32.8 mpg in those games, indicating his ability to play with fouls hanging over him).

Do I think Ruben Prey has the same level of breakout that Zuby had last season? Doubtful. He’s not likely to play 30+ mpg. However, I do think he could average 10 & 5 in 20 mpg, on 35%+ from deep.

Given the open question at PG, Lefteris “Lefty” Liotopoulos definitely has the opportunity to force his way into a major rotation role. Lefty was used sparingly last season, but he showed flashes of being a high-major PG. His shooting was not great, but given that he only played 119 minutes all year, it was tough for him to find his rhythm. He’s already shown some flashes this year, going on a personal 8-0 run to tie the Michigan exhibition game in overtime.

Sadikou Ibine Ayo is one of Rick’s favorite players on the squad. Many Johnnies fans had dreams of Rick bringing over Daniss Jenkins, Walter Clayton, Jr. and Nelly Junior Joseph when we hired him away from Iona. Instead, we got Jenkins and Ayo, the latter causing many heads to be scratched. In the 2 years since, Ayo has absolutely proven his worth as a leader on and off the court for the Johnnies, and it had become easy to see what Rick loves about him. He plays hard and always gives max effort. Defensively, he is very solid, and can hold his own when players are getting a breather. Offensively, he’s not afraid to let it fly, and is a career 36.5% from deep. He provided a spark with a made 3 off the bench more than once in his tenure.

What’s New: “The Mega Haul.” Another monster transfer portal class put together by Pitino & staff, ranked 1st by 247 Sports. The headliner is Ian Jackson, ranked 7th in 247 Sports transfer player rankings. Jackson was a 5-star recruit in the class of 2024, and posted 11.9 ppg on 45.6/39.5/72.3 shooting as a true freshman for UNC last season. This would seem to be an unquestionably great add for the Johnnies, but of course, as with many portal players, there’s a few caveats.

First, Jackson had an up-and-down year. Certainly this can partially be chalked up to being a freshman, and learning to play at this level. His season can be broken up into 3 parts:

Games 1-6: 17.2 mpg; 9 ppg; 0.5 apg; 2.2 rpg; 0.2 spg; 45.9/47.1/85.7; despite what one might believe, 4 of these games were against quality opponents: @ Kansas; and 3 games in Maui vs. Dayton, Auburn and Michigan State.

Games 7-22: 31.1 mpg; 16.4 ppg; 1.1 apg; 3.9 rpg; 0.8 spg; 1.4 topg; 48.7/35.7/72.7; this included non-conference games against Alabama, Florida & UCLA, and the first 11 ACC games. What we see here is a clear improvement from the shaky start to the season. The performance against an Alabama team with solid guards stood out, even in a 79-94 loss, posting 23 points, 5 boards and 2 steals on 58.8% from the field (10/17) and 60% from 3 (3/5).

In his 23rd game, a narrow home W versus Pitt, Jackson imploded, posting 0 points on 0-3 shooting, logging just 22 mpg. After this he seems to have fallen out of favor:

Games 23-36: 18.3 mpg; 8.1 ppg; 0.8 apg; 1.6 rpg; 0.5 spg; 1.4 topg; 39.2/43.1/64; This encompassed the end of ACC play, the ACC tournament, and UNC’s 2 NCAA Tournament games. It’s unclear what happened here. He clearly lost his mojo, and lost the faith of his coach. Just 1 of his 8 20+ point games occurred in the stretch run and none in the postseason. Indeed, his minutes fell off even harder in the postseason, averaging just 14.2 mpg in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

Was it the grind of a long season wearing on a freshman? Wouldn’t be the first time. Just a slump? Always possible. Or was it a regression to the mean? That latter question is the one that will nag Johnnies fans until they see what Jackson can do. Is Jackson the guy who excelled in the meat of UNC’s schedule? Or is he the guy who started slow and limped down the stretch? Advanced metrics are not kind to Ian Jackson, with UNC sporting a +21.2 net rating with Jackson off the floor, versus a -0.5 with him on the floor, per CBB Analytics.

With all of that said, Jackson is clearly an excellent individual talent, and a very good shooter. Which brings us to the second caveat: Rick Pitino stated upon signing Jackson that he intends to deploy Jackson as the team’s PG. Jackson sports an assist per 40 rate of just 1.5, and an assist % of just 7% (27th percentile nationally). That said, his turnover rate is solid, at just 10.6% (81st percentile). On a per game basis he averaged just 0.9 assists.

Rick has already attempted to walk back this statement, stating PG was irrelevant in the modern game, that no one plays with a PG anymore, and that “point guard” just means a guard that can’t shoot. He’s also made some noise about Dillon Mitchell: Point-Forward, and most recently claimed Oziyah Sellers, a career shooting guard at the college level, was the starting point guard during an open-to-the-media intra-squad scrimmage While there’s some truth to some of that–Duke played without a true point guard last season, e.g.–you still need a player who is comfortable with the ball in his hands, particularly in late game situations or anytime a team might press. I do like the concept of St. John’s playing a free-flowing, positionless offensive system. They played that way at times last year, the difference being that had 2–4 PGs on the roster with Kadary and Deivon, and depending on how you felt about Wilcher’s PG abilities and Lefty’s minutes. The fact that everyone out there can really score the ball–with the exception of maybe Mitchell–it very well could work.

However, if we’re sitting here in March wondering why this team disappointed us in 2025-26, lack of elite point guard play will likely be a major factor. That’s not to say it will go down like that, just that if we wind up disappointed, it will be a major factor.

While one of the more unheralded recruits of the Johnnies mega haul portal class, you cannot discuss Ian Jackson’s role on this team without discussing Big Sky Player of the Year Dylan Darling. Darling is an honest to God point guard–and not in the Pitino “guard-who-can’t-shoot” sense of the phrase (he shot 35.6% from deep last season). Darling played 34.3 mpg at the point last season for Idaho State in the Big Sky, scoring 19.8 ppg, and dishing out 5.7 apg, with a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, on 44.1/35.6/81 shooting.

What you may have stood out to you in that last sentence was “Idaho State in the Big Sky.” While Darling is an experienced point guard, whether that translates up from a conference ranked 22 by KenPom last season is certainly an open question. Darling was recruited by Washington State out of college, and had a forgettable freshman year, before getting injured 3 games into his sophomore campaign, and transferring to Idaho State. Cutting against his ability to make the jump, his Tiers A+B (4 games) stats per KenPom, which show his O-rating falling from 120.9 overall to 113.8 versus Tiers A+B, and his shooting falling from 48.7 from 2-point range to 41.2 versus Tiers A+B, and his 3-point percentage dropping from 36% to 27.8% versus Tiers A+B.

That said, his assist rate dropped only slightly, from 35.4% (26th nationally) to a still-respectable 34.1% versus Tiers A+B and actually improving to 36.6% versus just Tier A (3 games). For reference, Kadary Richmond led the Johnnies with a 29.5% assist rate last season (80th nationally). That tells me that Darling is a player who knows his limitations, and knows how to exploit weaknesses in defenses, even when those defenses prevent him from scoring. If you would like some anecdotal evidence, Darling posted 22 & 7 on 6/12 from the field, 1-1 from deep and 9/10 from the stripe versus USC, by far his best performance. He also scored 13 & 3 on UCLA on 4/5 shooting from 2-point range, but just 1/5 from 3-point range. Against their best conference foe (KP 126 No. Colorado), he averaged 21 and 5.5, albeit an inefficient 13/34 from the field (38.2%) and 4/14 (28.6) from deep.

Defensively, Darling could be a weak spot when he’s on the floor. He’s tenacious, but lacks the footspeed to keep up with quicker guards. He makes up for some of that with basketball IQ and anticipation, but at this level you need the footspeed to add to those skills. Even at Idaho St., the Tigers were 2.5 pp100 better defensively with Darling on the bench. There could be some wonkiness there as that accounted for just 170 minutes vs. 914 with Darling on the floor, but it is worth noting.

So there are legitimate concerns about Darling’s ability to play at this level. I for one believe he can. I love his tape. He’s not the quickest, but he’s super crafty. His assist numbers versus Tiers A+B lead me to believe he’s able to distribute at a high level, and similarly, his TO rate drops from 14.7% overall to just 11.5% versus Tiers A+B, indicating he can take care of the ball at a high level, as he was essentially the only PG on Idaho State last year and handled almost all of the ball handling responsibilities. If he can be something like a 7 & 5 player across 25 mpg, with just 2 TOs per game, he’ll play a huge role. He has 1 more year of eligibility left in 2026-27, and could be the starting PG if he develops sufficiently this season, and Jackson goes pro, as many expect.

The Johnnies also bring in a familiar face from an in-conference foe: Bryce Hopkins from Providence. This marks back-to-back years they’ve poached a star player from a conference rival. Hopkins has played just 3 games since January 3, 2024, when he tore his ACL, which makes it easy to forget just how good he was for Providence prior to his injury. In 2022-23, his last full season, he was one of just 2 unanimous selections to the All-Big East First Team, alongside Tyler Kolek. That season he posted 15.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.3 apg on 45.2/36.4/75.9 shooting, carrying PC to an NCAAT berth in Ed Cooley’s last season. The 11 seed in the tournament belies how good they were, racing out to a 14-3 record and a top-20 AP poll ranking,with wins over UConn and Marquette, before going .500 the rest of the way, losing to eventual national champion UConn in the first round of the BET and Kentucky in the first round of the NCAAT.

Prior to his injury in 2023-24, Hopkins had mostly picked up where he left off, posting 15.5 ppg and 8.6 rpg. However, his 3-point shooting fell off, posting just 18.9% on 3.8 attempts per game (up from 2.3). Hopkins returned briefly last season, before deciding to shut it down and continue rehabbing. In 3 games, he posted 51 points (17 ppg), 23 boards (7.7 rpg), 9 assists (3 apg) on 40/40/75 shooting. Those games were against BYU, @ Rhode Island and @ DePaul. Not elite competition by any stretch, but not cupcakes either.

In other words, with a whole ‘nother season to recover, to train, to get leaner and stronger, I think it’s reasonable to expect that we can get the best version of Hopkins from his Providence days.

It’s not a coincidence I started with Jackson/Darling and then Hopkins. In my humble opinion, these 3 players have the biggest “swing” potential for St. John’s this season. That’s not to say any of them will be the best player (although Hopkins and Jackson are both certainly talented enough to claim that mantle), but that whether or not they perform will be the biggest factors in just how high the ceiling is for this iteration of the Johnnies.

For Jackson and Darling, it’s the need to get good enough point guard play from 1 of or some combination of the 2 of them. With Hopkins, if he can shoot in the range of the 36.4% from deep that he shot during his first season in Providence, it really opens up a lot in the front court, with Dillon Mitchell being a non-shooter and Zuby’s shooting contributions remaining to be determined.

Speaking of Dillon Mitchell, he’s one of the 4 pieces that will give St. John’s a dominant front court. Mitchell is an elite athlete and glass cleaner, pulling down 9.8 boards per game. He’s excellent in the pick-and-roll, so hopefully he can develop a strong chemistry with Jackson and Darling (and Sellers?) in that regard. His size and length make him a major asset on the defensive end. I worry some about his ability to guard the 5, as he’s just 6’8”, but I trust with his athleticism he can definitely guard 1 through 4.

The other interesting thing about this is that Rick has stated that we could see Mitchell play some point forward. While I trust Rick to properly evaluate his talent. There isn’t much support for this in the stats and metrics. It would definitely be an interesting wrinkle. It would be in line with Rick’s previous comments that they’re going to play positionless basketball, which comments came after he said Ian Jackson would be the next great St. John’s point guard. Needless to say, point guard is looking more and more like a question mark for SJU as the season approaches. Perhaps Mitchell will be part of the solution to that conundrum.

The Johnnies shooting woes were well documented last season. St. John’s shot just 30.1% from deep last season, ranking 347th in division one. The upside? They held their opponents to just 30.6% from deep, the 27th best 3-point defense in the country.

This off-season, the Johnnies sought to address those shooting woes. Enter Oziyah Sellers, senior from Stanford, previously of USC. After 2 forgettable years at USC, Sellers had something of a breakout season in 2024-25, posting 13.7 points per game on 45.1/40.1/89.7 shooting. While the headline here is the Johnnies have brought in a guy who has shot 40.1% from deep on 4.2 3-point attempts per game, 3-pointers accounted for just 38.8% of his shot diet. Like some of the players we’ve seen thrive under Rick in his first 2 seasons in Queens, Sellers thrives in the mid-range. He shot 45.3% in the mid-range last season, good for 80th percentile nationally, and mid-range 2’s accounted for 28% of his shots, 97th percentile nationally. Sellers tends to struggle at the rim, so it is unlikely we seem much of a driving game from him, but that’s not what he’s here for.

Defensively, Sellers did not show much on a Stanford team that was pretty mid defensively, ranking 99th in KenPom. However, when it comes to defense and Rick Pitino, the sum is usually greater than the parts. What Sellers brings is a large body for a guard, solid length, and good athleticism. Those traits will make him an asset, and a better defender under Rick Pitino than he’s shown to date.

Rounding out the transfer that are expected to contribute is Joson Sanon, another guard from Arizona State. Like Sellers, there’s some questions about his defense. However, Sanon is incredibly long and incredibly athletic. He’s also another big guard, clocking in at 6’5”. If he buys-in defensively, he can be a force on that end with his length and quickness.

Just getting out from under Bobby Fucking Hurley should do wonders for Sanon’s game

Offensively though, Sanon should shine. Like Sellers, Sanon loves the mid-range, shooting 46.5% in the mid-range, 82nd percentile, and taking 31.3% of his shots there, 98th percentile. Even better, Sanon is a 2nd elite deep threat to play alongside Sellers and Jackson. Sanon shot 45/122 from deep, 36.8%. He feasted in the corner, shooting 42.3%, which is why we’re likely to see him deployed more on the wing, with Sellers more of the traditional 2-guard. However, like Sellers, Sanon struggles at the rim, where he shoots just 42.3% (6th percentile), and only took 9.4% of his shots. With his size and athleticism, SJU will need Sanon to get better at attacking the basket.

The concern with Sanon is that he feasted in the non-conference schedule, where he posted 14 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 12 apg on 47.4/50.9/69.2 shooting. The ONLY high major team ASU played was Florida, although they did play a pretty tough mid-major slate, including Gonzaga, New Mexico, and St. Mary’s–all tournament teams. In Big12 play, Sanon averaged just 10.3 ppg on 38.1/25.8/73 shooting. The caveat to this concern is that Sanon suffered an ankle injury in the Big12 opener, and it appeared to have lingered all season, affecting his shooting and explosiveness. If you look at the 4 quality games he played above, he struggled against eventual national champion Florida and Gonzaga, but excelled against the tough defense of St. Mary’s and versus New Mexico:

11/14/24 @ Gonzaga - 17 minutes; 3 pts./1 reb/1 ast/1 steal/1-4 FG/1-3 3P/0-0 FT
11/28/24 v. UNM (N) - 32; 19/2/3/0/6-11/2-5/5-5
11/29/24 v. SMC (N) - 29; 19/2/1/0/8-16/3-4/0-0
12/14/24 v. Florida (N) - 30; 5/3/0/0/2-9/1-4/0-0

The hope is that his is merely an anomaly, and that the experience he received playing in the Big12 helps him improve this season. A cause for optimism? His statline the last 5 games of the year, where he rebounded a bit from the rough stretch of Big12 play as his health presumably improved: 18.8 ppg/4.8 rpg/1.4 apg on 47.3/30.4/65.4. Clearly the 3-point and free throw shooting still not great in that last stretch, but it certainly provides room for optimism. With the whole off-season to fully heal, Sanon could be a monster at full health for the Johnnies.

The other concern with Sanon–one I do not share–is buy-in. I trust Rick Pitino to vet these types of issues, and I trust him to manage them as well. If Rick can get Sanon to buy-in to playing less selfishly, and committing himself to be an elite defender, Sanon has near limitless potential. I am very, very high on Sanon and his ability to be a major piece for SJU this year.

Our last newcomer who may contribute is freshman recruit Kelvin Odih. Odih is a 4* prospect, ranked 67th in 247 Sports’ Composite ranking. Odih was committed to Darian DeVries at West Virginia, but decommitted when DeVries moved on to Indiana after just 1 season in Morgantown. After the decommit, Rick and company swooped in and beat out Utah for Odih. Physically, Odih is a specimen. He is a strong, physically imposing 6’4”, 190-pound guard.

Rick is generally reluctant to play freshman, but Odih could be the exception. There have been nothing but rave reviews of Odih coming out of pre-season workouts. His mature frame, and tenacity on the defense end will certainly endear him to Rick. He’s the type of guy that can be the tip of the spear in a ball-pressure situation. Additionally, his size and strength make him a versatile asset defensively–something incredibly important in Rick’s system.

Offensively, the scout on Odih is that he’s the type of player who can get downhill and attack the rim with speed and strength. Given the lack of a great rim attacker on this roster, this further opens the door for Odih to break Rick’s rotation more than any of the previous freshmen Rick has had at St. John’s.

The Johnnies also added 6’11” NAIA grad transfer Handje Tamba, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, by way of Knoxville, Tennessee. Tamba played 2 seasons at Weber State, where he averaged just 10 mpg, 1.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg, and 0.4 bpg. He transferred down to the NAIA for 2024-25 where he was the Appalachian Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, and first team all-conference, averaging a near-double-double for MIlligan College: 10.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 1.7 bpg. In an already-crowded front court, we’re unlikely to see many meaningful minutes out of Tamba, but he’s the type of player who will push the front court in practice.

Rounding out the roster are two European players: Casper Pohto of Sweden and Imran Suljanovic of Austria. Of the 2, Suljanovic is the much more intriguing prospect. He’s a 6’8” forward who was ranked 138th in 247 Sports’ Composite ranking for the class of 2025. In one game at the senior national team level for Austria (earlier this year) he posted an 11/3/3 line. In the 2024 at the U18 national team level, he averaged 22.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.1 apg in 7 games, and shot 38.4% from deep. Unfortunately, Suljanovic broke his patella and is out for the season. However, he could form the backbone of a quality, Euro-laden roster in 2026-27, with Prey and Liotopoulos also eligible to return.

Pohto is a 6’4” guard, who averaged 13.6 ppg, 6 rpg, and 2.4 apg in just 28.1 mpg at the 2024 U18 EuroBasket Championship. He has also played for Sunrise Christian Academy, and St. Benedict’s Prep before that, so he has played high-level prep ball as well. He fits the mold of a prototypical big Pitino guard, and it will be interesting to watch him develop. If he stays in Queens, he could also be a contributor to a Euro-centric 2026-27 roster.

The Optimist’s Take: Ian Jackson is able to be the high-level point guard we need OR Dylan Darling is able to be a great point guard at this level. The defense gels instantly, with the athleticism, speed and versatility plugging right into Rick’s system. Hopkins shoots 35%+ from deep on 3+ attempts, keeping things open in the front court. Prey adds additional front court shooting, and Zuby becomes a reliable low-volume, can’t-leave-him-alone-from-depp 3-point threat. Sanon and Sellers provide the deep threat we so dearly missed last season, and Zuby develops an inside-out game to feed them the ball.

The Hater’s Take: As everyone expects, point guard is a huge issue. Darling is unable to translate to this level and Jackson simply isn’t a point guard. The Zuby/Mitchell/Hopkins trio in the front court creates major spacing issues due to an inability to hit deep shots, limiting our ability to have 3 of our best players on the floor together. Prey doesn’t pan out in an expanded role. The defense takes a huge step back as Jackson, Sellers and Sanon fail to improve defensively under Rick.

The goal.

Fan Pulse: Feeling it. Booking rooms in Indianapolis levels of feeling it.

Bottom Line: When you have Rick Pitino and a load of talent, the world is your oyster. There is no ceiling. I firmly believe enough of the pieces come together, enough of the questions are answered positively that this team reaches its full potential as a national title contender. More granularly, the defense will take a step back, but I would reckon still a top-20 KenPom defense, at worst. This will be more than be off-set by a huge leap offensively, from 68th in KenPom a year ago, to top-20 on offense as well. If you’re top-20 on both sides of the court, you’re going to have a chance to do huge things.

Prediction:  26-5 (17-3), 1st Place