St. John's, Rick Pitino Receive Glorious Grade for Offseason Move

The St. John's Red Storm are contenders to win an NCAA title because of their offseason moves in the transfer portal.

St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino calls out to his offense in the first half of the NCAA Big East Conference game between the Xavier Musketeers and the St. John's Red Storm at the Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University in Cincinnati on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. St. John’s led 41-37 at halftime. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The St. John's Red Storm have not only been one of the best and most active teams in the Big East, but also in all of college basketball, particularly in terms of the transfer portal.

Rick Pitino has completely reimaged his starting five with newcomers Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon, Oziyah Sellers, and Bryce Hopkins now in the mix.

These moves have received a lot of praise from college basketball analysts, and it's understandable why.

Joseph Shaw of Busting Brackets is a major fan of St. John's activity in the transfer portal and gave them an "A+" grade for their activity this offseason.

"The transfer portal is where Rick Pitino went unconscious, bringing in 7 commits, and almost all of them were major contributors to their team last season," wrote Shaw. "This is potentially one of the greatest transfer classes we have ever seen."

"Pitino put up a masterclass of an offseason and will likely be the favorite to win the Big East, as well as be one of the heavy favorites to win the National Championship. The absolute floor for this team is likely an 8-seed as worst."

Jan 3, 2023; Queens, New York, USA; A basketball with the St. John's Red Storm logo at Carnesecca Arena. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

It's hard to argue with this perfect offseason grade based on the moves St. John's made.

Pitino identified the biggest need on his roster, better and more consistent guard play, and went out and filled that with the likes of Jackson and Sanon.

As Joseph notes, the Red Storm should easily be one of the contenders to win the Big East and, because of these moves, are a real threat to win the national championship in 2026.

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