Mike Anderson is suing St. John’s for about $45 million. So many players left St. John’s that they were down to 2 players a short time ago, with one of them being Joel Soriano, who is one of the best big men in the country. Pitino has since in short order added 9 transfers and a highly-rated freshman. The team has one of the better groups in the country at the 1-3 led by Daniss Jenkins and Jordan Dingle, but desperately needs to add another high quality big man. Look for Pitino to go hard after Ernest Udeh and one or 2 others and take the first one who commits. Incredibly enough, Pitino might end up with a roster that is good enough to get into the NCAA Tournament.
Wish we had a brand name coach that could move mountains like a Pitino (without it actually being Pitino ).
Pitino has added the big man he was looking for to complete St. John’s 13-man roster. St. John's lands Zuby Ejiofor to complete remade roster
Hall of Fame coach with (mildly nefarious) ties to shoe companies, the best venue in hoops, and a program being endorsed by the most connected human in basketball (Woj), who is stumping for “investors”? Shocking.
It actually is shocking. St. John’s has won all of one NCAA Tournament game in the last 24 years. Pitino looks like he is putting together a program that is going to be a big noise maker in the tournament sooner rather than later.
St John’s used to be a player for talent in the NE. Marc Jackson, Walter Berry, Chris Mullin, …. Lou was a great coach in his day. I had an old HS English teacher that played for St John’s and then the Philadelphia Warriors for a few years. Danny Finn. Was still a great player in his 50s during teacher student basketball games.
Simeon Wilcher, the highly touted guard from Roselle H.S. in New Jersey, got released from his LOI with UNC and committed to St. John’s. St. John’s now has 14 players, so figure that one out. It seems possible that Daniss Jenkins might not get in. He needs to graduate from Iona this summer to get in unless he gets a waiver from the NCAA. Assuming he gets in, St. John’s will be one over the scholarship limit. Maybe that won’t matter because of NIL money. Pitino might turn St. John’s into a national title contender, after all their years of suffering.
Simeon Wilcher commits to St. John's: Ex-UNC signee is Rick Pitino's highest-ranked recruit in 2023 class
That is a somewhat poorly written article. Yareli Lendeborg will be attending UAB. He previously had been released from his commitment by St. John’s. Also, Wilcher has been rated a lot higher by some other services, and I believe is a five – star player in some of them. Finally, the Daniss Jenkins situation is very important as Jenkins and Wilcher would be battling it out for the point guard spot at which they would have tremendous depth if Jenkins makes it into school.
No doubt his connections with the shoe companies. They are still pushing athletes to schools where the middle man gets a cut and the shoe companies get big deals for their brands. When Kansas and Bill Self didn’t go down, all the people involved that didn’t get busted continue shoving players to Kansas, Arizona, Duke, NC and others. It is corruption in the game that to this day will continue into the future because the people at the NCAA, the conferences, the shoe companies, are making money like the mob. The NIL adds further problems because they are not vetting these same schools mentioned. Vetting these cools would send a message,
The attached is an example of what Rick Pitino can sell to recruits; i.e., the best developer of talent in basketball. Donovan Mitchell to Louisville: Cardinals Land 4-Star Guard Prospect
Not sure the purpose of this thread. Is it to tell us that Pitino is a good recruiter/coach? As someone that has been involved at the highest level of AAU hoops I can tell you this is already known. As is his reputation as someone that breaks many of the rules and doesn’t exactly exude character. As good as he is as a coach I would not send one of my guys to play for him. There are other good coach’s who can both coach and have some level of character. I want to win at UF no doubt. Again, for much of my life the literal state of Florida basketball has been a big part of my life. I wouldn’t want Pitino. Know too much about the man. Again, this seems like a good thread for a Saint John’s board.
I am a Gator fan and a St. John’s fan, and I am exercising my first amendment right to post whatever the hell I feel like posting about college basketball on this message board. You can expect another thread from me soon about both the Gators’ and St. John’s’ prospects for this coming season. I also intend to throw in a few tidbits about the basketball programs at Kansas State and Binghamton. Feel free to protest. Also, feel free to make some interesting posts on these basketball message boards.
TJ1 did not mention Mr. Glover in a post. I for one am very thankful! I followed St John’s growing up in the area with Big Lou, Walter Berry, Marc Jackson, Chris Mullens, …. I played HS ball against Wayne McKoy who went to St. John’s. One of best HS players I ever watched. Played with Brett Bearup who went to UK, Phil Webber who went to NC State, …, so saw some good players. Interestingly, Todd Jamison played QB for St John’s. Incredible athlete and leaping ability. Short in size but could put jump 6’8” kids. I was on an all star traveling team in HS and Todd, Phil, … traveled to Philadelphia for a tournament. People were shocked when this 5’10 Todd Jamison outjumped these tall centers on other teams.
I will be mentioning Glover at some point because Kansas State is one of the teams I intend to follow this year along with Binghamton, St. John’s and the Gators. However, Glover will get to speak for himself this season as he will be playing in the toughest basketball conference in the country against, arguably, the best set of point guards in the country. I am hoping that Glover starts at the point, but that is no certainty as Tylor Perry has joined Kansas State, and Kansas State returns one of their starting guards.
