Rick Pitino has already formed the foundation for future success at St. John's
Zuby Ejiofor of the St. John's Red Storm attempts a shot in the second half against Tyler Kolek and Zaide Lowery of the Marquette Golden Eagles at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
If you want to be inspired about the future of St. John’s basketball, it was there right in front of everybody in the final minutes of Saturday’s heartbreaking, one-point loss to then-No. 17 Marquette at the Garden.
Locked in a tight game with a little more than a half dozen minutes left in the first half, the Red Storm surged to take a 10-point lead and held it to a six-point halftime advantage. The unit on the floor included point guard Simeon Wilcher, center Zuby Ejiofor, forward Brady Dunlap, swingman RJ Luis and — for a stretch — swingman Glenn Taylor.
None of them are among the six players in their final year of college eligibility. Each of them could — and likely will — be back next season. But more important to the here-and-now is how well they played in that stretch.
We hear it every year from coaches near the end of the basketball season. Things like “they really aren’t freshman anymore.” That group of St. John’s players, many who earlier were absent due to injury (like Luis) or iffy when they got their opportunities, are potential contributors right now.
And this factor may be very important as St. John’s (12-7, 4-4) goes into Wednesday’s Big East matchup against Villanova (11-7, 4-3) at the Garden. St. John’s already beat the Wildcats on the road — albeit without then-injured Justin Moore, their second-leading scorer — and needs a win to snap a three-game losing skid.
Just like the Storm, Villanova is looking to bounce back after a dispiriting one-point loss to top-ranked Connecticut at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.
Dunlap already has had a star turn this season with big performances in a home win over Butler and the road win at Villanova. Wilcher, the blue-chipper from New Jersey’s Roselle Catholic who chose St. John’s and Rick Pitino over North Carolina, has a brilliance that only will improve with decision-making maturity.
“Those kids really play hard,” Luis said of Wilcher and Dunlap. “It’s great everybody is stepping up.”
Ejiofor, however, has really come on of late. The Kansas transfer initially looked like a rim protector with a limited offensive game. He is now capable of being a force. Over his past five games he is averaging 6.4 points on 13-for-21 shooting and two blocked shots. In the run against the Golden Eagles, he had a blocked shot that led to a Chris Ledlum layup, an offensive rebound he took for a three-point play and a rim-rocking dunk to finish a break.
“Zuby started out the year with great intensity and great fire, but he was constantly dropping the ball in traffic — always dropping the ball,” Pitino said. “And he’s developed into a player with good hands. The reason he was dropping the ball, he was always thinking about — like football — catching and running at the same time instead of looking the ball into your hands.”
Wilcher, who Pitino has dubbed “the heir apparent” at point guard after Daniss Jenkins, is ahead of other great point guards he’s had.
“Sim’s position is the toughest to learn,” Pitino said. “I never played Peyton Siva as a freshman [at Louisville]. I never played Russ Smith as a freshman. It’s very difficult to learn all the different things, but he’s doing a good job.”
When Pitino brought in a dozen new players — two or three times what most programs seek — he was doing two things at once. He wanted older players to give St. John’s a chance to succeed right away and he also got players with eligibility remaining to become the nucleus of future teams.
Recruiting players out of the transfer portal is going to be part of the recipe in the NIL era, but he will be adding them to freshmen Wilcher and Dunlap and sophomores Luis and Ejiofor, among others.
“We are building something that you’re going to look at in two years and say ‘that’s greatness’ — I’m committed to that,” Pitino said. “There’s a formula for success and it’s all based on who you bring in and we’re bringing in guys like RJ and Brady and Sim and Zuby. And that’s the start of it all.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
