Big East coaches believe St. John’s first season under Rick Pitino will be a successful one.
In the annual preseason poll released on media day, the league’s coaches picked the Johnnies to finish fifth in the conference that is projected to be one of the premier leagues in the country.
Last year’s regular season and postseason champion, Marquette, was picked first, followed by Creighton second, defending national champion Connecticut third and improved Villanova after the Huskies.
St. John’s has a completely new team. The only returning contributor is standout center Joel Soriano, who was an All-Big East first team preseason selection.
Pitino and his staff remade the roster, bringing in 10 transfers and two freshmen.
The new roster looked good on Saturday in an 89-78 double overtime win over Rutgers in an exhibition game for charity.
UConn transfer Nahiem Alleyne led the way with 19 points and Iona transfer Daniss Jenkins had 13 points and nine assists.
Projected starters Jordan Dingle (left shoulder) and RJ Luis (left hand) missed the game due to injury.
The top five of the Big East was similar to the the Associated Press preseason top-25 poll that ranked the top four – Marquette and Big East preseason Player of the Year Tyler Kolek led the way at No. 5 and UConn at No. 6 – with St. John’s narrowly missing the cut. The Johnnies received 47 votes, tied with UCLA for 28th overall.
Xavier was chosen sixth in the conference, Providence seventh and Georgetown with new coach Ed Cooley eighth.
Meanwhile, expectations are low for Seton Hall in the second year of the Shaheen Holloway era.
The Pirates were projected to finish ninth, followed by Butler 10th and DePaul in its customary spot in the cellar.
Soriano was joined on the first team by Creighton duo Trey Alexander and Ryan Kalkbrenner, Villanova guard Justin Moore and Providence wing Bryce Hopkins.
The second team was composed of Marquette’s Kam Jones and Oso Ighodaro, UConn center Donovan Clingan, Villanova forward Eric Dixon and Creighton sharpshooter Baylor Scheierman. UConn’s Stephon Castle, a five-star recruit, was named the preseason Freshman of the Year.
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