When Rick Pitino took the St. John's basketball job, he was adamant that he could overhaul the roster and win immediately. Now, it seems increasingly likely that he was right. On Friday, St. John's landed star University of Pennsylvania transfer Jordan Dingle, the second-highest scorer in college basketball nation last year and one of the best players in the transfer portal.
With the Quakers, Dingle averaged 23.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists while maintaining a stellar 59.7 percent true shooting percentage. By landing Dingle, Pitino not only beat out John Calipari and Kentucky and, but also cemented St. John's as a major player in the college basketball landscape.
Most impressive, Pitino landed Dingle despite the 6'3 transfer's strong ties to coach Cal and the Kentucky program. Dennis Dingle, Jordan's father, played for Calipari at the University of Massachusetts and made the Final Four in 1996 alongside future NBA star Marcus Camby.
With Dingle in tow, Pitino has now brought in nine total transfers during his two months on the job, including four of his former Iona players. To wit, he has also landed Brady Dunlop, a 6'7 shooting guard who is a four star recruit and the 87th best player in the class of 2023, according to ESPN. Next year's St. John's team will look totally different than last year's—and that's a very good thing.
“Without a question you can win right away,” Pitino said at his opening news conference. “I think Pittsburgh has shown that right away. I think Missouri has shown that right away. I need guys who can shoot the basketball, not get fatigued, get after it defensively. We’re probably going to have to bring in 6-8 players for this basketball team and that’s going to take a lot of work.”
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