St. John's Basketball Bulletin

 

Madison Square Garden is the home of St. John's basketball. Photo by Jason Schott.

The St. John's Red Storm men's basketball team has had a busy off-season, and this update will catch you up on the past few days.

CBS SPORTS CLASSIC: St. John's will partake in the marquee showdown against Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic on December 20 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. 

This will be the first time St. John's plays Kentucky since 2011, and the other game in the doubleheader will be Ohio State taking on North Carolina.

It will reunite St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino and Mark Pope, who was the team captain of Kentucky when they won the 1996 National Championship. Pope is the current coach of Kentucky, and will be entering his second season at the helm.

Pitino coached Kentucky from 1989 to 1997, and he led them to three Final Fours and five SEC Tournament titles in addition to that national title. Pitino had a record of 219-50 in his eight seasons in Lexington.

"Obviously, Kentucky was Camelot for me, I've said it many times," Pitino said in a statement. "So now to play against The Captain (referring to Pope), who made so many special moments for me and the team, in a battle that CBS is putting on is quite special. I will remember it for a long time."

Of course, this tournament was held at Madison Square Garden, the home of St. John's, last season.

VAN MACON MOVES ON: St. John's Assistant Coach Van Macon has stepped down from his position, and he will seek new professional opportunities. 

Macon has been on the St. John's staff for six years, starting in 2019 when Mike Anderson was hired as head coach. He was his Assistant Coach for the first two years before he became Associate Head Coach before Rick Pitino kept him on board and restored him as Assistant Coach.

"We greatly appreciate Van Macon's contributions to St. John's Basketball and wish him the best in his future endeavors," Pitino said in a statement.

ST. JOHN'S GETS COMMITMENT: On Wednesday, St. John's received a commitment from four-star high school prospect Kelvin Odih.

The Providence, Rhode Island, native is a top-75 recruit in the Class of 2025, according to 247Sports. He spent his senior year at Southern California Adademy, where Oziyah Sellers also played. Sellers recently transferred to St. John's after playing a year at Stanford.

Odih also played at La Salle Academy in Rhode Island, where he earned All-State honors as he led to a 29-2 record and the 2023 Rhode Island Interscholastic League (RIL) Division 1 Championship