It has been eight weeks since Rick Pitino was hired as the new coach at St. John’s, bringing a new coaching staff and a new hope with him. (He retained one coach, Van Macon, who had been the lead local recruiter for previous coach, Mike Anderson.)
Coach Pitino’s first action to take was to meet with center Joel Soriano and name him captain for the upcoming season. Coach Pitino then met with the press and indicated that fans could anticipate a turnover in student athletes. Now eight weeks later, only two players from last year’s squad remain and 11 new athletes have been recruited.