St. John’s basketball: Rick Pitino recruiting efforts headlined by 5-stars

Rick Pitino is hitting the recruiting trail hard for the St. John’s basketball program. 

Rick Pitino said that it wouldn’t be that difficult or long before he was able to rebuild the St. John’s basketball program back to prominence and it looks like he was right.

Pitino spent his first full day on the job visiting and talking to recruits, headlined by Class of 2024 five-star forward Carter Bryant.

Bryant, the No. 4 player in the high school junior class according to 247Sports, recently trimmed his options down to two schools, Arizona and Louisville, but the first swing for the Hall of Famer in Queens was one for the fences.

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Rick Pitino, and assistant head coach Steve Masiello, took a swing for another five-star prospect in its visit to Archbishop Stepinac to see 2024 five-star guard Boogie Fland and 2025 four-star guard Danny Carbuccia.

Fland already has an offer from the Red Storm and has quickly become a priority for the new coaching staff while Carbuccia is on the trajectory of being the next hot prospect to come out of the New York powerhouse.

Archbishop Stepinac will participate in the New York high school basketball state championship this weekend.

St. John’s basketball going outside of area for recruits

Local recruits are not the only prospects Rick Pitino made contact with on Wednesday after he extended an offer to five-star Class of 2024 shooting guard Vyctorius Miller.

Miller, a Top-30 player in the class at Compass Prep (Ariz.), is also being courted by Kansas, Gonzaga, and USC.

Pitino also offered 2024 four-star guards Dink Pate and Ahmad Nowell.

ALSO READ: Rick Pitino planning to turnover much of roster

St. John’s has additionally been linked to uncommitted Class of 2023 guard Garwey Dual.

Dual originally slated to play for Providence next season but reopened his recruitment after head coach Ed Cooley bolted from Friartown to Georgetown.

Walter Clayton, the MAAC Player of the Year from Iona, remains one of the key transfer portal target for the Johnnies.