No. 5 St. John's joins No. 4 UConn at top of Big East after breakthrough season

UConn has been the standard of success in the Big East, taking over Villanova’s spot on the mantel with consecutive national championships.

St. John’s rapid rise under coach Rick Pitino brought the Red Storm back into the national spotlight and created what could be a two-team race with UConn at the top of the Big East.

“Anybody with Coach Pitino’s success is going to come in and change a program,” UConn senior forward Alex Karaban said. “The way he’s done it at St. John’s, its been incredible what he’s done, he’s been able to elevate that program to contenders now..”

Once a power program in the Big East, St. John’s had become an afterthought in the national consciousness with three NCAA Tournament appearances between 2002-24, all resulting in first-round losses.

Pitino had become the guru of two-year turnarounds at previous stops and did it again after arriving at St. John’s in 2023. After winning 20 games in Pitino’s first season, the Red Storm went 31-5 in last year, climbing to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 — its highest ranking in 35 years — before winning an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 2000.

The No. 5 Red Storm enter this season with their highest preseason ranking ever thanks to returning big man Zuby Ejiofor and the shooters Pitino added from the transfer portal.

“It being our last year, it’s Final Four, it’s national championship or bust,” Ejifor said.

The Johnnies will likely have to go through No. 4 UConn to win the Big East and perhaps beyond. The Huskies lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, but have a strong core returning.

Dynamic guard Solo Ball and Karaban are back, and UConn added point guard Silas Demary Jr., who averaged 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game at Georgia last season. Highly-touted freshman guard Braylon Mullins is expected to miss the early part of the season with an ankle injury, but will give the Huskies one of the league’s best backcourts when he returns.

Top players to watch

Solo Ball, UConn. The 6-foot-4 junior guard can fill it up. He averaged 14.4 points per game last season while shooting 41% from 3.

Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s. The 6-9 junior is a handful for opposing teams who averaged 14.7 points on 57% shooting and 8.1 rebounds last season.

Alex Karaban, UConn. Part of two national championship teams, the 6-8 forward can do a little of everything.

Chase Ross, Marquette. The 6-5 guard could be ready to make a star turn after averaging 10.5 points per game a year ago.

Top transfers

Jason Edwards, Providence. The 6-1 guard gives the Friars an instant scoring boost after averaging 17 points per game at Vanderbilt last season.

Josh Dix, Creighton. The 6-6 guard averaged 14.4 points last season while shooting 51% from the field and 42% from 3 at Iowa last year.

Owen Freeman, Creighton. Limited to 19 games at Iowa due to a finger injury last season, the 6-10 forward averaged 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 64% from the floor.

Bryce Hopkins, St. John’s. He averaged 15.5 points per game at Providence last season before his season was cut short by a knee injury.

Ian Jackson, St. John’s. The five-star recruit showed flashes of brilliance while averaging 11.9 points per game at North Carolina last season.

Two Pitinos

The Big East will have two Pitinos now that Rick’s son, Richard, has taken over at Xavier.

Richard has had success wherever he’s been, twice leading Minnesota to the NCAA Tournament and taking New Mexico there the past two seasons. He will have to start from the ground up at Xavier with a roster that’s been nearly completely overhauled from a year ago.

“He’s going to have a difficult season, but that’s to be expected when you have 13 new players and you’re just starting out,” Rick Pitino said. “The good thing is that he’s at Xavier, a great basketball tradition, great arena, great city.”

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