St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino believes that he will know more about his team and their potential following this Saturday’s scrimmage against Rutgers. That’s because Pitino has heard the buzz about Rutgers basketball and head coach Steve Pikiell.
Having made three straight trips to the postseason, Rutgers basketball is returning to make a return to the NCAA Tournament this year. They have a deep team but there are some question marks about how good this team can be.
During his team’s media day, Pitino was asked about his expectations for his group. Hired this offseason, Pitino was a massive addition as a head coach to a St. John’s program that has been consistently inconsistent over the past decade.
Pitino answered that after Saturday’s scrimmage against Rutgers, he will know more about both teams.
“I’m going to answer politically correct just because I don’t know the competition. I’ll know more Saturday. I think Saturday is going to tell me more. Because I’ve had two people, Bill Raftery being one, a couple other people saying that they were very impressed with Rutgers,” Pitino told reporters.
“And I think Rutgers feels they are every bit as good as last year if not better. They are a really well-coached team, coach Pikiell does an outstanding job,fundamentally in every phase of the game.”
It is a good test for both programs.
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For Rutgers, it is a chance to see how freshman four-star Gavin Griffiths and transfer portal guard Noah Fernandes fit into the program. And for Pitino, his first game in charge of St. John’s will be a first look at the new pieces that have come into the program.
#StJohns HC Rick (@RealPitino) Pitino spoke very highly of #Rutgers Basketball and Steve Pikiell today at Red Storm Media Day. pic.twitter.com/7BJdbu85Qc
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | TheKnightReport.Net (@RutgersRivals) October 17, 2023
“For us, being a young team, playing against Rutgers early in the season, that will tell me where we’re at. And that will judge how good we are,” Pitino said.
“Right now, I’m optimistic, I’m hopeful but I really don’t know the competition. So Saturday will tell us a lot of things.”
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(h/t to The Knight Report for the video)