As if one of the most anticipated seasons in St. John’s history couldn’t get any bigger, the No. 5 Johnnies were picked to finish 1st in the Preseason Big East Coaches’ Poll and superstar Zuby Ejiofor was pegged as the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year.
It’s the highest preseason ranking for the Red Storm since 1991 when it was also picked to finish at the top of the league.
St. John’s, the defending regular season and conference tournament champions, edged out No. 4 UConn by three votes after the Huskies were voted ahead of the Storm by one position in the preseason Associated Press Poll.
The Johnnies and Huskies were the only two teams to receive first place votes as Creighton, Providence, Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, Xavier, DePaul, Butler, and Seton Hall rounded out the poll.
Ejiofor, the reigning Big East Most Improved Player and All-Big East First Teamer, joins a short list of players in the program to be tabbed with the highest individual honor in the conference and the first since Shamorie Ponds prior to the 2018 season.
Last season, RJ Luis was St. John’s first Big East Player of the Year since Walter Berry in 1986.
Providence transfer Bryce Hopkins was named to the preseason All-Big East First Team ahead of his first season with the Red Storm while North Carolina transfer Ian Jackson was slotted on the Second Team.
Arizona State transfer Joson Sanon and Cincinnati transfer Dillon Mitchell were named to the Third Team.
It is the first time in league history that at least five players from the same program were named to the various preseason teams.
St. John’s opened its preseason with an exhibition win over Towson and will conclude its preparation for the regular season with its final exhibition game on Saturday night (7:00 p.m. ET, BTN+) against No. 7 Michigan inside Madison Square Garden.