Anticipation is building in Queens for the second season of St. Johns’s basketball under Rick Pitino and the Hall of Famer took to social media to provide a quick look inside the walls of the program during the early summer.
The biggest additions the Johnnies made were landing the guard duo of Utah’s Deivon Smith and Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond in the transfer portal.
Pitino compared Smith to Peyton Siva, his star guard at Louisville, who was a Second Team All-American in 2013 as well as a National Champion. St. John’s will be the fourth school of Smith’s career but put up career-best numbers last season with 13.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game.
Kadary Richmond has yet to participate in the offseason workouts for the Johnnies, according to the head coach, as he rehabs a preexisting injury from last season. Richmond missed two games last season in January with a knee issue.
Aaron Scott, the North Texas wing, was an underrated addition for the Red Storm, who was called a “terriffic two-way player.”
Pitino also praised his 7-footer duo of USC transfer Vince Iwuchukwu and freshman Khaman Maker, saying each player has “great upside” due to their size and length but need to “work on footwork and improve balance.”
The returning players, Simeon Wilcher, RJ Luis, Brady Dunlap, and Zuby Ejiofor, are all expected to take major jumps forward but Luis, who battled shin splints throughout last season, is still getting back to full health and has not returned to Queens. Pitino posted that he will join the team “soon.”
Many are expecting Wilcher to be one of the most improved players in the Big East next season but, with the guard duo of Richmond and Smith on the roster, the New Jersey native must provide St. John’s with a major shooting lift.
Wilcher was 10-of-24 from 3-point range last season and its the biggest question surrounding the team this season.
Brady Dunlap, who also can provide the Johnnies with much needed shooting help, has added 15 pounds, per Pitino, and needs to get back into basketball shape at this point in the offseason.
Zuby Ejiofor, who showed a lot of promise late in the season playing behind Joel Soriano, will have a much larger role next year and will play both power forward and center at times. He averaged 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in just 11.3 minutes.
St. John’s is still awaiting the arrival of its two international prospects, Greek guard Lefteris Liotopoulos and Portuguese forward Ruben Prey.
Rick Pitino closed his social media remarks with a question about who will fill the leadership void left by star point guard Daniss Jenkins, who is hoping to hear his named called during the NBA Draft on Wednesday or Thursday.
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