Pitino....This is what you say when you don't want to lose a player in the portal

[Halldan1]

Rick Pitino has high hopes for St. John’s freshman Simeon Wilcher

Rick Pitino’s vision for freshman Simeon Wilcher has not changed despite his lack of playing time.

nypost.com

Rick Pitino has high hopes for St. John’s freshman Simeon Wilcher​

By Zach Braziller

Rick Pitino’s vision for freshman Simeon Wilcher has not changed despite his lack of playing time.

The freshman guard remains a pivotal part of the St. John’s coach’s plans moving forward.

“He’s a very talented young man, and he’s the future of our program,” Pitino told The Post in an exclusive interview Tuesday. “Sim is all-in with St. John’s, and I’m all-in on Sim.”

A top-40, four-star recruit coming out of Roselle Catholic (N.J.), the 6-foot-4 Wilcher has not made the impact many anticipated. In 22 games and two starts, he is averaging 2.4 points and 1.1 assists in 9.4 minutes. Wilcher didn’t play in Sunday’s loss to Seton Hall or in the second half of the prior game against Providence.

Pitino has opted against using Wilcher off the ball, as he did earlier in the season, because he believes it is asking too much of him to learn multiple positions at the same time.

The Hall of Fame coach, however, has seen progress from him in practice and plans to play him behind starting point guard Daniss Jenkins on Wednesday against Georgetown.

“The only reason he hasn’t played more is he’s learning behind a great point guard, and I think that’s going to bode extremely well for him going against Daniss Jenkins every single day,” Pitino said. “He could’ve gone to another program and averaged 10, 12 points a game and not learned as much. I think this is an awesome learning experience going head-to-head with [Jenkins] every day. It’s making him better. He’s terrific, he’s our future and I’m very bullish on him. … I think Sim has gotten a great deal better.”

St. John’s roster will be very different next year. Four of the five starters — Joel Soriano, Chris Ledlum, Jenkins and Jordan Dingle — are out of eligibility, along with top reserve guard Nahiem Alleyne.

Wilcher is one player that St. John’s plans to build around, along with fellow freshman Brady Dunlap and sophomores RJ Luis Jr. and Zuby Ejiofor.

“He’s maturing emotionally, he’s maturing defensively, he’s very much similar to [Jenkins],” Pitino said of Wilcher. “My first year with ‘D.J.’ when I first got him [at Iona], I wouldn’t have said he’s a point guard. He had so much to learn about running a pick-and-roll, he had so much to learn about defending a pick-and-roll. And during the year he learned all of that. And Sim is the same way.

“Like D.J., he’s a combo player that has to learn how to set up other people to run a team, and he’s learning all that this year.”

 

[jack 1970]

If he was that good he would be playing 10-15 minutes per game now.St Johns isn't that good to keep him on the bench.

 

[Burnsly]

Newsflash for Rick. Jenkins still isn't a point guard.

 

[Halldan1]

If he was that good he would be playing 10-15 minutes per game now. St Johns isn't that good to keep him on the bench.

That's my point. He's trying to explain to the kid to stay the course even though you're not playing.

With the weakness of their schedule moving forward he can now play Wilcher because he doesn't fear losing to DePaul or Georgetown. But when it mattered he glued him to the bench all year

 

[U-Hall]

Simeon and CJ would look good in blue.

 

[SHUisNJsTeam]

Going to be interesting to see how Pitino reacts if SJU craps the bed against the Hoyas tonight!

 

[HallX2]

If that kid was smart he’d get outta Queens

 

[walshtrips]

Saint John's players at the end of the season. RUN WILCHER RUN!!!

 

[PirateFan94]

Exactly as I said in previous post. He’s clearing out the dead wood and will make it known who he wants to keep. The rest will know to enter the portal. Say what you want, this will be a difficult matchup for years to come.

 

[lloyde dobler]

Exactly as I said in previous post. He’s clearing out the dead wood and will make it known who he wants to keep. The rest will know to enter the portal. Say what you want, this will be a difficult matchup for years to come.

Judging by your history of posts, you must think the woman in the restaurant came on to him

 

[SHUSource]

Exactly as I said in previous post. He’s clearing out the dead wood and will make it known who he wants to keep. The rest will know to enter the portal. Say what you want, this will be a difficult matchup for years to come.

That's what he did last year. How is it working so far?

 

[The Crows Nest]

That's what he did last year. How is it working so far?

For us? Working out nicely so far....lol

 

[Seton75]

That's what he did last year. How is it working so far?

No good, he is soft and quick.

Meant his team, not him, sorry

 

[Gohall129]

Watching Jenkins play a few time this year, he reminds me a bit of Quincy McKnight with a little bit less of the killer mentality.

Im not very impressed by Luis, but he has had some good box scores this year.

Rick has a deeper hole to dig out of then he realizes. Will need atleast 4-5 transfers in the next portal session

 

[walshtrips]

How do you explain that a supposed $2.7M NIL pot was essentially wasted?

 

[GloryDays85]

Just a word of caution Get in all the shots and laughs in now because this off season for St. John’s is going to be huge and like always Pitino will win big in year 2.

Have a hunch Two 5 star bigs to enter portal from Big Ten will be at SJU next year

Repole funding his horse racing buddy Pitino with millions this spring

Repole Stable

@RepoleStable
·
Follow
I need and will do more @StJohnsBBall than I did this year. Rick @RealPitino , Fr. Shanley, and St John’s, I’m committed.LFG!!!!!#SJUBB#7 digits@nobull

 

[GloryDays85]

7 digits short for Millions.

 

[SHUSource]

It's a little steeper climb this year than it always was, especially for guy growing more and more irrelevant by the week. Also, he can keep turning his roster over all he wants. I saw something the other day about how none of the programs that had the highest amount of roster turnover this year are NCAA-bound, so that sounds like a great strategy.

 

[hbkmyr]

Just a word of caution Get in all the shots and laughs in now because this off season for St. John’s is going to be huge and like always Pitino will win big in year 2.

Have a hunch Two 5 star bigs to enter portal from Big Ten will be at SJU next year

Repole funding his horse racing buddy Pitino with millions this spring
Repole Stable
@RepoleStable
·
Follow
I need and will do more @StJohnsBBall than I did this year. Rick @RealPitino , Fr. Shanley, and St John’s, I’m committed.LFG!!!!!#SJUBB#7 digits@nobull

Haha. Wait til next year. A St. John’s tradition unlike any other.

 

[HALL85]

How do you explain that a supposed $2.7M NIL pot was essentially wasted?

It’s going to happen…the guys that pony that money will not be 😃

 

[GloryDays85]

Haha. Wait til next year. A St. John’s tradition unlike any other.

Like I said laugh now…Pitino will have a big war chest this offseason and can be highly selective unlike last year when he came late to the job.
His GM who was highly successful in the old transfer game has been making inroads to portal candidates for months. That is college basketball 2024. Think five star Big Ten freshman!

NIL funding is going to separate the haves and the have nots over the next 5 years when the whole process shakes out.

Will a team come out of nowhere from time to time? Sure but as the KC Royals of 2017 found out low capitalized teams will not be able to sustain success.

It is also going to dictate where the best coaches will coach.

 

[SHUSource]

I figure I'll laugh now and then.

 

[Burnsly]

The correlation to baseball is a good one. Tampa has an active total payroll of 85M while the Yankees is 280M. We all know who has had the upper hand over the past few years. It's not about how much money you spend; it's about how wisely you spend. Top notch talent evaluation & how that talent fits into your organization is the key to competing.

 

[walshtrips]

Just a word of caution Get in all the shots and laughs in now because this off season for St. John’s is going to be huge and like always Pitino will win big

This guy can throw $10,000,000 at it and he'd just be wasting his money. You're not understanding the issue if you think money will make Pitino a winner again.

Chemistry is the issue when you fill a stable with Thoroughbreds. You just pointed out that he's going to bring in two 5 star bigs, which one wants to sit on the bench for more than 20 minutes per game?

Winning in this day and age of NIL requires more than money.

- Chemistry is number one, which is best accomplished with one or two studs and a good supporting cast.
- Chemistry is easier to achieve with the right mix of talent, and a coach who truly cares about his team. A coach that gives tough love and shows respect for his players, Pitino doesn't fit the bill.
- NIL money is important as you need to entice the two studs and recruit a good supporting cast.
- Continuity and experience. You should have two or three players who've played quality minutes for the coach in the prior season.
- The coach needs to have stamina.

There's a reason why Jay Wright, Coach K, Roy Williams, and others have bailed. Rick should follow suit, sooner than later.

 

[hbkmyr]

Like I said laugh now…Pitino will have a big war chest this offseason and can be highly selective unlike last year when he came late to the job.
His GM who was highly successful in the old transfer game has been making inroads to portal candidates for months. That is college basketball 2024. Think five star Big Ten freshman!

NIL funding is going to separate the haves and the have nots over the next 5 years when the whole process shakes out.

Will a team come out of nowhere from time to time? Sure but as the KC Royals of 2017 found out low capitalized teams will not be able to sustain success.

It is also going to dictate where the best coaches will coach.

Years ago there were a select few SJU posters who would hawk this board and tell us how good St John’s was going to be. Eventually they disappeared. I guess they tired off being wrong all the time, year after year. I’ll believe it when I see it

 

[Gohall129]

Like I said laugh now…Pitino will have a big war chest this offseason and can be highly selective unlike last year when he came late to the job.
His GM who was highly successful in the old transfer game has been making inroads to portal candidates for months. That is college basketball 2024. Think five star Big Ten freshman!

NIL funding is going to separate the haves and the have nots over the next 5 years when the whole process shakes out.

Will a team come out of nowhere from time to time? Sure but as the KC Royals of 2017 found out low capitalized teams will not be able to sustain success.

It is also going to dictate where the best coaches will coach.

You’re acting like Pitino is incapable of missing… how about what happened with Walter Clayton… he would’ve been your best player at SJU this year after 2 years with Pitino. He’s the difference of St John’s being in the NCAAT… but instead of playing for Rick he’s down at Florida averaging almost 17 a game in a strong SEC.

Don’t be surprised when Rick gets spurned for the actual top coaches and schools.

 

[GloryDays85]

You’re acting like Pitino is incapable of missing… how about what happened with Walter Clayton… he would’ve been your best player at SJU this year after 2 years with Pitino. He’s the difference of St John’s being in the NCAAT… but instead of playing for Rick he’s down at Florida averaging almost 17 a game in a strong SEC.

Don’t be surprised when Rick gets spurned for the actual top coaches and schools.

Clayton situation had nothing to do with Pitino missing on kid. In fact kid said Pitino developed him like no other coach could have.

His girlfriend who is from Florida was pregnant with his child and he wanted to be close to home.

But why let the facts get in the way

 

[Gohall129]

Clayton situation had nothing to do with Pitino missing on kid. In fact kid said Pitino developed him like no other coach could have.

His girlfriend who is from Florida was pregnant with his child and he wanted to be close to home.

But why let the facts get in the way

Did he end up at St. John’s? No, that’s a miss. proving the point that all of vitamin water money and Rick can’t always win. So when you’re in the bottom half of the league at this time next year we’ll still be laughing at you

 

[HallLine69]

At this point, I am quite comfortable saying that Shaheen Holloway is a better coach than Pitino.

Pitino had a huge war chest and accomplished little with it. Sha had far far less in the coffers and has accomplished more, including beating Pitino's team twice.

 

[bigraym]

I am quite comfortable saying that Shaheen Holloway is a better coach than Pitino.

Let's qualify that statement just a touch:
"I am quite comfortable saying that Shaheen Holloway is currently a better coach than Pitino."
I am a huge Sha fan always, but Pitino did win 2 NCAA championships with 2 different schools (one was vacated) and made Final Four with 3 schools. I am not a fan, but he does have some significant accomplishments in his coaching career.

 

[walshtrips]

Let's qualify that statement just a touch:
"I am quite comfortable saying that Shaheen Holloway is currently a better coach than Pitino."
I am a huge Sha fan always, but Pitino did win 2 NCAA championships with 2 different schools (one was vacated) and made Final Four with 3 schools. I am not a fan, but he does have some significant accomplishments in his coaching career.

Sha's only been a head coach for 6 years, currently is a given. Sha went to the Elite 8 when he was coaching opposite Pitino at Iona. There's no doubt Sha's had more success in the years that he's been a head coach. Let's see if the future enables Sha to achieve long term success.

 

[HallLine69]

Let's qualify that statement just a touch:
"I am quite comfortable saying that Shaheen Holloway is currently a better coach than Pitino."
I am a huge Sha fan always, but Pitino did win 2 NCAA championships with 2 different schools (one was vacated) and made Final Four with 3 schools. I am not a fan, but he does have some significant accomplishments in his coaching career.

You left out the "at this point" which preceded my statement. So we are in agreement.

 

[g0pirates]

Hypothetically - Are we more likely to land Armstrong or Wilcher?

 

[Seton75]

Watching Jenkins play a few time this year, he reminds me a bit of Quincy McKnight with a little bit less of the killer mentality.

Im not very impressed by Luis, but he has had some good box scores this year.

Rick has a deeper hole to dig out of then he realizes. Will need atleast 4-5 transfers in the next portal session

We have 8 new faces. 2 start, 2 are first off the bench, 2 dont play, 2 rarely play.

The 4 who play are tough.

Like I said laugh now…Pitino will have a big war chest this offseason and can be highly selective unlike last year when he came late to the job.
His GM who was highly successful in the old transfer game has been making inroads to portal candidates for months. That is college basketball 2024. Think five star Big Ten freshman!

NIL funding is going to separate the haves and the have nots over the next 5 years when the whole process shakes out.

Will a team come out of nowhere from time to time? Sure but as the KC Royals of 2017 found out low capitalized teams will not be able to sustain success.

It is also going to dictate where the best coaches will coach.

He made bad decisions this summer. I don't think his problem was selectivity but hubris. He had more than one decent player but he was gonna clear the deck and perform a Pitino miracle. Not close so far. And the all league player he kept has taken a big step backwards.