Rick Pitino, St. John's Taking Interesting New Approach to Roster Building

The Hall of Famer is using a new style to create his roster that will be looking for a third straight conference championship

Mar 26, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino speaks with the media during a press conference ahead of the east regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The renaissance of the St. John’s basketball program under Rick Pitino has been nothing short of remarkable but after back-to-back Big East championships and the school’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999, the Hall of Famer is going about his roster construction differently.

He’s going international.

St. John’s had been one of the top teams recruiting the transfer portal in the last three seasons, landing players like Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis, Kadary Richmond, Bryce Hopkins, Ian Jackson, Dillon Mitchell, and more but this version of the Johnnies will look different.

The Red Storm has already landed four international players after Babacar Sane, a Senegal native, committed to the Red Storm on Tuesday. He joins British point guard Quinn Ellis, Serbian center Lazar Stojkovic, and Montenegrin wing Djordije Jovanovic.

The Johnnies have utilized the portal to get Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman and Columbia guard Avery Brown, and it still could be key for Pitino and his coaching staff to try and add one more major piece to its roster, which is absent of a center at the moment.

But the heavy focus on international players could make it a tough start to the season for St. John’s as those players typically have an adjustment period coming to the United States to play college basketball.

St. John’s was just 2-4 in its major non-conference games last season; a major reason it was a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament despite running through the Big East and had to play top-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16.

Ellis and Sane project to be the top utilized international players at the moment while Jovanovic is expected to be a good shooter with size coming off the bench.

Since arriving at St. John’s, Rick Pitino has used international players to build the depth of his team and eventually contribute later in their careers like returning rising juniors Ruben Prey and Lefteris Liotopolous. He’s had success with foreign players in his illustrious career and now he will try and replicate that success with the Red Storm.