In his third season leading the St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball team, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino has heightened expectations of the program. The team began the season with their highest AP preseason ranking in school history at No. 5, and with the return of senior center Zuby Ejiofor, voted by Big East head coaches as the conference’s 2025-2026 Preseason Player of the Year, the bright outlook was warranted.
But after an ugly 77-71 loss to the Providence Friars at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 3 after going undefeated a year ago at home on their way to winning both the Big East Conference regular season and tournament championships, the then 9-5 Red Storm didn’t have the appearance of a national title contender. At that moment, Patino’s change to the starting lineup altered St. John’s trajectory. He inserted forward Dillon Mitchell.
A senior co-captain who transferred to St. John’s from the University of Cincinnati after spending his first two seasons at the University of Texas, Mitchell had previously been the team’s sixth man. A 6-8 talent from Tampa, Florida, Mitchell’s versatility, ability to effectively rebound, score, pass and defend, has been a catalyst to the Red Storm’s 11-game winning streak heading into last night’s road matchup against struggling Marquette (9-17).
Since the loss to Providence, St. John’s, ranked No. 17, was 11-0 before meeting Marquette, including an 81-72 win over Big East rival University of Connecticut Huskies at the Garden on February 6. UConn was ranked No. 3 at the time and are currently No. 5. UConn was 24-2 overall and first in the Big East (14-1) and St. John’s second in the conference at 13-1 and 20-5 in total.
Mitchell’s impact, which cannot be narrowly defined by his stats, as he was averaging a stout 9.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game prior to facing Marquette, has energized the entire squad.
“You know what? I’m having so much fun watching Dillon Mitchell play,” Pitino said after the Red Storm’s 92-70 win over Butler late last month. “I don’t think I’ve said that too many times in my 52 years of [coaching], having fun watching a person play. Whether it’s him coming down as a point forward and attacking the basket, or making a great pass, or throwing it to Zuby and cutting to get him open.
“He really knows how to play,” emphasized Pitino, who notched his 900th win as a Division I head coach. He is just one of four coaches in history to reach that mark, notching the distinction on Jan. 24 in a 87-82 overtime win at MSG versus Xavier. Ironically, Xavier’s head coach is Pitino’s son Richard.
“Playing with coach Pitino, you gotta play hard,” said Mitchell earlier this season. “You gotta have that killer mindset.”
After last night’s road game against Marquette, the Red Storm will host Creighton on Saturday before a rematch with UConn on the road next Wednesday.
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