Rick Pitino lauds athleticism, shooting ability of St. John's after summer practice

A new St. John’s basketball season has begun as the Red Storm began its summer workout program on Monday and Rick Pitino took to social media to let everyone know how the next batch of Johnnies are performing.

First practice in the books. Hard working group that excels athletically and shoots the lights out,” he posted to X on Wednesday afternoon. “Thank God,” he joked.

St. John’s retained only four players from its record setting season a year ago, Zuby Ejiofor, Sadiku Ibine Ayo, Ruben Prey, and Lefteris Liotopoulos, but is considered as a consensus preseason Top 10 team in the country.

Some early projections even have the Johnnies as the top squad in the nation due to its impressive transfer portal recruiting class that holds seven players.

Ian Jackson, the Bronx native and former North Carolina Tar Heel, headlines the group of newcomers to Queens but he is joined by Arizona State’s Joson Sanon, Providence’s Bryce Hopkins, Stanford’s Oziyah Sellers, Cincinnati’s Dillon Mitchell, Idaho State’s Dylan Darling, and Milligan College’s Handje Tamba.

St. John’s also added three freshmen to its roster, 4-star recruit Kelvin Odih, international recruit Imran Suljanovic, and depth piece Casper Pohto.

“We’re throwing a lot at them in the first 48 hours, and they responded really well to it,” associate head coach Steve Masiello explained in an offseason update video produced by the program.

“You want to obviously make sure they understand there’s certain expectations and standards that we’ve established that Coach Pitino has set for this program.”

Liotopoulos will join the team at a later date as he continues to play for the Greece U20 international team this summer and Suljanovic is still working to get his international visa that would allow him access to the United States.

All other players are on campus and taking part in the offseason workout program.