Rick Pitino's St. John's climbs to second in Gary Parrish's Top 25 rankings following transfer portal moves

Rick Pitino's St. John's has had a solid transfer portal this spring. On Wednesday, Dillon Mitchell publicly committed to the Red Storm, adding more quality to their roster. Even Pitino was thrilled with his arrival.

"We are thrilled to have Dillon Mitchell join our basketball family," Pitino said. "Pound for pound, inch for inch, [Dillon is] one of the hardest working and most productive players in the nation. He brings great experience and talent to our team."

As a result, on Thursday, CBS's Garry Parrish moved St. John's up two spots as the No. 2-ranked team in his top 25 rankings.

Mitchell began his collegiate journey at Texas in 2022. He played two seasons with the Longhorns before transferring to Cincinnati in 2024. It will be interesting to see how he fares at St. John's.

Apart from Mitchell, St. John's also brought in North Carolina transfer Ian Jackson, Providence transfer Bryce Hopkins, Arizona State transfer Joson Sanon, Stanford transfer Oziyah Sellers and international prospect Imran Suljanovic. Many, including Parrish, feel that the Red Storm had one of the best transfer portal windows in the NCAA this year.

Last month, Zuby Ejiofor also said he would return to St. John's for the 2025-26 season. The power forward was named the Big East Most Improved Player in 2025 and is expected to play a critical role for Pitino's team next season as well.

After the transfer portal, Parrish has only ranked Houston higher than St. John's.

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Rick Pitino's St. John's reached the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament

Rick Pitino led St. John's to the regular season title and the Big East conference tournament title last season. He guided the Red Storm to an NCAA Tournament appearance for the first time in six years.

NCAA Basketball: St. John's HC Rick Pitino - Source: Imagn

St. John's beat Omaha in the first round of March Madness, but crashed out of the NCAA Tournament following a loss to Arkansas in the second round.

This offseason, St. John's has added more quality to the roster, and some have them as early favorites to win the national championship next season.