St. John’s Men’s and Women’s Basketball Head Coaches Rick Pitino and Joe Tartamella addressed local media on Oct. 15 in Carnesecca Arena for the annual St. John’s Media Day. The three-hour event marked the beginning of basketball season in Queens as both teams’ rosters were introduced ahead of their 2024-25 seasons. 

Women’s Basketball: 

The afternoon began with an opening statement from Tartamella who enters his 13th season as head coach of the Johnnies. As the program celebrates its 50th season, Tartamella looks to build on the culture and history the team has created throughout the years. 

“It’s important to me that our current players know what that means, and what it feels like,” Tartamella said. 

“To respect the past and then be able to feel it themselves is what we hope for. To be in the postseason and play in those high-level games, I think that’s what it’s all about,” he continued. 

Tartamella brought eight returners,  acquired four transfers and added two freshmen to his roster in the offseason. Senior guard Lashae Dwyer played for the University of Miami last season where she helped the Hurricanes reach the Elite Eight in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. 

“[She] brings us an incredible intensity defensively, and I think she’s going to be able to score it at a higher rate than she has,” Tartamella said on her addition to the team.  

The Red Storm also acquired junior forward Kylie Lavelle from Penn State, graduate forward Jade Blagrove from Manhattan College and graduate guard Ariana Vanderhoop from Monmouth University. 

Tartamella praised Blagrove as a “rebounder, communicator, just a great attitude, great player, great leader.” Blagrove’s experience is a large asset to the team after losing veteran guards Unique Drake and Jillian Archer. 

Graduate guard Ber’Nyah Mayo was also praised for her role in shifting the 2023-24 season’s momentum, helping them earn a post-season berth into the Inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament ( WBIT ). 

“I thought she was one of the best guards in the league by the end of the season, and obviously in the country,” Tartamella said. “You saw what she did in Florida, [and] again at Toledo. In that postseason and the last part of our year in our league, she was as good as anybody.”

Mayo has been out for the beginning of the season nursing an injury but has continued her role as a veteran leader of the team in pushing the newcomers and returners to another NCAA tournament run following their 2022-23 season. 

“It’s extra motivation. You look around the room, most of us are returners,” Mayo said. “The motivation is at an all-time high, knowing last year we didn’t make it but this year we don’t want the same result. We want to be there. So the motivation this year, the motivation in practice, every day, just the understanding we have to get after it every day and can’t let any days go.”

Their season kicks off with an exhibition game against Pace University on Oct. 21, followed by their regular season home opener against Saint Peter’s on Nov. 4. 

Men’s Basketball: 

The second half of the afternoon kicked off with an opening statement from Coach Pitino emphasizing the team’s matchup at Rutgers on Oct. 17 for an exhibition game to raise money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. 

“There’s no better place than to play a sold-out place on the road to get ready for a season,” Pitino said. “Going on the road always tells you about your team.” 

Pitino recently took to X to announce that the team collectively voted for Kadary Richmond and Zuby Ejiofor as team captains for the 2024-25 season. 

“This was a player’s vote and it was near unanimous,” the hall-of-famer said. “[Richmond] practices hard all the time, he’s a good leader and he’s really a terrific guy. I love coaching him. 

“Zuby is high-octane and brings it every single day,” he continued.

He also announced that the pair will lead the team as definite starters alongside sophomore guard Simeon Wilcher. 

Wilcher appeared in 28 games last season, making two starts. The New Jersey native averaged 2.8 points and 1.1 assists across 9.1 minutes per game. As a top-10 guard prospect out of high school, he spoke on the difference of entering St. John’s last season compared to now. 

“I feel like the game has slowed down a lot for me. For my body, coming into last year I was a little underweight but going into this year I feel like I’m a good size and I’m going to be able to do a lot of things to help our team win,” Wilcher said. “That’s all I care about.”

Richmond recently impressed Pitino in a closed practice because of his stand-out performance. When speaking on the dynamics of the team as a whole the Seton Hall transfer mentioned the versatility of the group. 

“We can go with three guards or two guards,” Richmond said. “We can switch it up and we play at a fast pace. We take care of the ball well, so we can play with anybody in the country.” 

Ejiofor appeared in all 33 games last season, making one start. He averaged 4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. 

“Just being a leader and speaking up when they need me to,” Ejiofor said of his role as captain. 

“Being a leader not only on the court but also off the court, setting an example for the rest of my teammates on how we are going to carry this program and how we are going to carry the name ‘St. John’s’ across New York and hopefully bring the fans something to be excited about this year.”

Following their second and final exhibition game against Towson on Oct. 26 the team will officially kick off Pitino’s second season at St. John’s against Fordham on Nov. 4 in Carnesecca Arena.