The 2023-2024 College Basketball season is about to tip off and for the local schools there are some big expectations. Those expectations are warranted and have permeated throughout the country with the focus on the areas premiere coaches.
The main national focus will clearly be on Rick Pitino and St. John's. Pitino left much larger college programs to move to Iona and he had the same sort of successes with a smaller school as he did a large one. Pitino brought the Gaels to 2 NCAA tournaments in 3 seasons, which is an accomplishment in itself, but he also brought his style to the team immediately. Pitino now takes over a Storm team who will look completely different. There will be 10 new faces as they try to get to the tournament for the first time since 2019. In that year they were one of the last 4 in, and lost their only game. The last time St. John's made it to the second weekend was 1999 and that seems to be the goal here for the Johnnies. It's a tough Big East this year, but there is substantial hope for the fans.
While Pitino will ganer all the attention Speedy Claxton is the coach we all should be watching at Hofstra. Claxton has ushered in a new era and that era has shown consistency and winning. He's led Hofstra to two straight 20 win seasons in his two years at the helm and now wants to take that step to get to their first tournament since 2001. They were close last year, but close doesn't get you to the dance. This season guard Tyler Thomas, and his 17 points per game average, should put them in the same winning position again.
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Hall of Famer Rick Pitino, St. John’s Head Men’s Basketball Coach
St. John’s University
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