St. John's does not play any true road games during non-conference play.
But they'll get a taste of the real road environment Thursday night when they visit Rutgers for an exhibition game at Jersey Mike's Arena that will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
Rutgers will be an interesting opponent with the addition of five-star freshmen Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey.
The Scarlet Knights are ranked No. 25 in the nation in the Associated Press preseason Top 25.
St. John's finished in 27th place, narrowly missing out.
All proceeds will benefit the V Foundation's Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund.
“Thursday is obviously a big day for us to find out where we are. We play a top 25 team,” Pitino said Tuesday at media day hosted by St. John's. said as. “We want to raise significant funds for Dick Vitale’s childhood cancer research, and we couldn’t ask for anything better than this.” [way] What better way to prepare for the season than to play in a packed venue.
“Rutgers has a very clear and strong home court advantage. If we go right away, we can learn about the team. It allows us to know who's mentally tough, who's physically tough, who's Baylor and We'll see if we're ready for the opener against Tennessee, Fordham and Georgia and those teams heading into the Big East.”
As Pitino pointed out, it should be good preparation for a difficult early season.
St. John's will host New Mexico, coached by Pitino's son Richard, on Nov. 17 and play No. 8 Baylor on Nov. 21 in the Baha Mar Hoop Championship.
No. 12 Tennessee or Virginia will follow the next night.
Kansas State visits Queens on Dec. 7.
St. John's expects to give it its all for this game.
RJ Lewis and Aaron Scott recently returned after suffering concussions in practice.
Point guard Davon Smith, a transfer from Utah, has also returned to practice from a shoulder injury.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what we can get,” Pitino said.
St. John's will also host Towson in a charity exhibition game on Oct. 26 at Carnesecca Arena.
After St. John's practice on Friday, Pitino flew to Lexington, Kentucky, to cheer on former Big Blue Madness player and current Kentucky coach Mark Pope.
The 1996 team Pitino coached was honored, and Pitino wore a blue Kentucky pullover.
It was a little surprising to see a head coach sitting at another program's tip-off event.
Pitino attended Kentucky's practice the next day as well.
Pitino addressed the issue Tuesday.
“This is a celebration of the state of Kentucky for a championship team. If I were on the Knicks, I would wear orange. This is a celebration of the state of Kentucky,” he said. “This is not a St. John's celebration. If you go to Providence, you'll wear white and black. There are no St. John's people. [that are] I'm upset — I'm sure people in Louisville are upset too. ”
There have been discussions between the two teams about playing a home-and-home series next season, but Pitino has put that on hold for now because Kentucky won't be able to play a return game in 2026. He said that it has become.
St. John's University has remained silent on its recruitment efforts for the Class of 2025.
Pitino said it's unlikely he'll add any high school players to next year's team.
“I think there is.” [freshman] Jaden Glover is someone we really respect right now. Ruben Prey, another new student that we have high expectations for. [Lefteris Liotopoulos]someone we look up to,” he said. “We have so many young players right now that we don't need to take any freshmen.”
