Pitino embracing ‘good pressure’ that comes with massive St. John’s expectations

[Halldan1]

Rick Pitino embracing ‘good pressure’ that comes with massive St. John’s expectations

Rick Pitino hears the chants when he walks around the city. He heard it on his trip this weekend to the Saratoga Race Course.

nypost.com

By Zach Braziller

“Go Johnnies.”

“Go Johnnies.”

“Go Johnnies.”

Rick Pitino hears the chants when he walks around the city.

He heard it on his trip this weekend to the Saratoga Race Course.

St. John’s fans are ready for the season, more than three months before Pitino coaches his first game for his new school.

A strong offseason that has led several experts to install the Red Storm as a preseason top-25 team has the fan base dreaming big after the program hired the Hall of Fame coach just over four months ago.

“I think it’s necessary for St. John’s to get as much hype as possible, because they’ve been so dormant,” the 70-year-old Pitino told The Post in a sit-down interview on Monday. “I love the expected excitement that’s going to happen.”

Now comes the hard part: Living up to expectations.

The process began roughly five weeks ago with offseason workouts that will wrap up in 10 days.

All but one member of Pitino’s huge 11-man recruiting class has taken part in those, projected starting point guard Daniss Jenkins.

The Iona University transfer is finishing up his undergraduate degree, and will arrive by the end of August, although he has been around his new teammates frequently.

The latest addition, Harvard grad transfer and likely starting power forward Chris Ledlum, took part in his first workout on Monday.

“It’s definitely different, definitely got a different aura around it,” said standout center Joel Soriano, the team’s lone returning contributor. “Everything is a lot more, I would say, demanding. We’re way more focused. It’s a lot being asked of us right now, but that would be anywhere you would be at. … A lot more trying to be perfect at things, trying to get things as quickly as possible.”

Getting everyone on the same page feels like the biggest challenge for Pitino.

There are two freshmen and nine transfers — three of them, Jenkins, Cruz Davis and Sadiku Ibine Ayo, did play for Pitino last season at Iona — that have to adjust to a new coach, new surroundings and new teammates.

The early returns have been positive.

Pitino believes his staff did well in recruiting the right kind of people, hard-working and selfless players that fit his demanding style.

Who will attack summer workouts with the same passion as Pitino, who was described by top guard transfer Jordan Dingle as “the most competitive person in the gym.”

Obviously, this is still the honeymoon phase.

The real tests arrive in the winter, when playing time is doled out and typical struggles arise.

Soriano, a high-character, affable big man, has been the go-to guy for most of his new teammates trying to get adjusted to the area.

The team regularly hangs out away from the court, sometimes at his off-campus apartment to play video games together.

Pitino took everyone to a recent Mets game and had a team dinner planned Monday night.

Everyone but the seniors will live on campus this year.

Some teams have known each other for years.

St. John’s has to speed up the familiarity phase.

We’re definitely hanging out more as a group since we’ve been here,” Soriano said. “We went to a water park. We go out to eat. We hang out a lot. We build that bond off the court and build that trust, it’s going to translate on the court.”

Of course, talent wins, and St. John’s believes it has plenty of it.

Ask a member of the coaching staff the Johnnies’ best player, and you will get a different answer from almost everyone.

Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor has at times gotten the better of Soriano, according to Pitino.

The legendary coach raved about the potential of RJ Luis, a 6-foot-7 rising sophomore wing who was an Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team selection in his lone year of college at Massachusetts.

Ejiofor, another soon-to-be sophomore, will likely be the first forward off the bench while Luis is battling Glenn Taylor Jr. and Nahiem Alleyne, respective transfers from Oregon State and Connecticut, to be the guy at the 3.

Ultimately, the strength of the team may be the backcourt of Dingle, Jenkins and top-35 freshman Simeon Wilcher.

“I’ve had 12 players [in workouts] and all 12 players are very good,” Pitino said. “Now we have to get three or four of them to become great.”

There is significant hype, in part because of Pitino, but also the caliber of players he has brought in.

The expectations of some fans will be unrealistic for a brand new team that last won an NCAA Tournament game in 2000.

But Pitino doesn’t seem bothered by it.

“That’s OK, though, unrealistic expectations become extraordinary effort,” he said. “I think that kind of pressure is good pressure.”

 

[Halldan1]

Ex-assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih makes St. John’s return to head NIL push

The new era of St. John’s basketball also now includes a familiar face from the past.

nypost.com

Ex-assistant coach Matt Abdelmassih makes St. John’s return to head NIL push​

By Zach Braziller

The new era of St. John’s basketball also now includes a familiar face from the past.

Matt Abdelmassih, an assistant coach during Chris Mullin’s head-coaching tenure and a team manager in his days as a student, recently re-joined the school as the program’s new general manager, The Post has learned.

The 38-year-old Abdelmassih returns to Queens after spending the last year as an agent for Octagon.

St. John’s joins several schools, such as Villanova and Duke, in creating this new position in the Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) and transfer portal era.

“It feels like the stars aligned in terms of the current landscape of where things stand in college basketball,” Abdelmassih said in a phone interview. “The position is something I feel like I will thrive in and help the program and university grow to a level we all want it to be and expect it to be at.”

As an assistant coach for Iowa State, St. John’s and Nebraska, Abdelmassih was known as a top-notch recruiter adept at landing top transfers.

St. John’s last NCAA Tournament team in 2019 was fueled by transfers Justin Simon and Marvin Clark II whom Abdelmassih was responsible for landing.

The focus of his job, however, will be on the NIL end, coach Rick Pitino said.

Abdelmassih will work directly with St. John’s three collectives, Storm Marketing, Flat Top and Phocus, and serve as a go-between for players, their families, agents and the coaching staff.

He will be a fundraising organizer and be in charge of bringing new donors into the fold, enabling Pitino to take a step back from raising money for the program.

“Matt has a great love for St. John’s and he also knows a lot of St. John’s alumni,” Pitino said. “He’s going to cultivate more people, because in order to sustain the NIL we’ve got to quadruple the people giving.”

Pitino is bringing in a tax accountant and financial adviser to educate his players on how to handle their money.

Other than that, Pitino doesn’t want to deal directly with NIL figures for current players or recruits.

That will be a major part of the job for Abdelmassih.

“Right now the climate of where college basketball is, NIL is at the forefront of everything,” said Abdelmassih, who also worked in the NBA for the Timberwolves prior to coaching in college. “I have a unique level of experience that I can bring to the table that I feel gives us an advantage. My main focus for this first year is to make sure our collectives are clicking on all cylinders and the infrastructure internally is built to deal with changes going on in the NIL space.”

Over the last year, Abdelmassih represented two of the top big men in college basketball, Adama Sanogo of Connecticut and Cliff Omoruyi of Rutgers.

He wasn’t looking to get back into college basketball.

But once Pitino landed the job at St. John’s, and hired Steve Masiello as his associate head coach, they began using Abdelmassih as a helpful resource considering his prior coaching experience at St. John’s.

Masiello and Abdelmassih had a strong pre-existing relationship.

Eventually, the conversations turned to him coming back to his alma mater.

It made too much sense for him to pass up the opportunity.

“There is a part of me that certainly has a chip on my shoulder that there is unfinished business,” the Brooklyn native said. “Being a part of what Rick Pitino is building is something that was so incredible to not even think about turning it down because of who he is and what he is going to bring to St. John’s.

“I’m really excited to come back to a place I love and be here for a really long time.”

 

[jack 1970]

UConn to Big East and Pitino to St Johns have made Metro NYC recruiting much tougher for SHU.Seismic changes.

 

[Piratz]

The best goes on. It’s going to be this until games start. Good for them… Can’t wait to beat the Dream Team. 🫡

 

[HallBall'n]

Happy for them. Will Seton Hall raise the bar?

 

[CL82]

UConn to Big East and Pitino to St Johns have made Metro NYC recruiting much tougher for SHU.Seismic changes.

No doubt, but Seton still has home court advantage, at least against Connecticut.

I'm a big believer in the whole "a rising tide floats all ships" theory. No doubt that Pitino to St. John's is going to NYC metro recruiting more difficult, but another opportunity to keep kids in the NYC metro area is a good thing, and probably benefits all three programs in the long run.

 

[SOpirate]

There isn’t a more media savvy coach out there than Pitino. The ultimate salesman.

 

[jack 1970]

No doubt, but Seton still has home court advantage, at least against Connecticut.

I'm a big believer in the whole "a rising tide floats all ships" theory. No doubt that Pitino to St. John's is going to NYC metro recruiting more difficult, but another opportunity to keep kids in the NYC metro area is a good thing, and probably benefits all three programs in the long run.

Not buying that theory in this case.Both UConn (already has) and SJU will pick off kids who might have gone to SHU.Now with NLI advantage will definitely happen.

 

[Burnsly]

They will until SH upgrades the asst. coaching situation. There's so much ridiculous talent within driving distance from campus yet the only way we can get them is through the transfer portal. Things need to change.

 

[CL82]

Not buying that theory in this case.Both UConn (already has) and SJU will pick off kids who might have gone to SHU.Now with NLI advantage will definitely happen.

I think you're right about that. The question is whether it creates a tendency or bias towards kids staying home that would ultimately benefit Seton Hall. Plus, although head-to-head I'd like to think Connecticut has a recruiting advantage over Seton Hall, there will be instances where Seton has an advantage such as playing time, style of play, relationship with the coaches etc. For example, I think that Connecticut would have taken Kadary Richmond when he transferred out of Syracuse, but Seton hall already had established a strong relationship with him during his high school recruitment. We have some advantages, no doubt, but that doesn't mean we will win with every kid. The same would be true with St. John's in the Pitino era.