While Pitino is downplaying St. John’s potential, his confidence has rubbed off on players entering season

St. John’s tips off intrasquad scrimmage in August. Red Storm is ranked fifth in preseason Top 25 poll, highest mark entering a season in program history. (Photo by Jaden Daly/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

NEW YORK — While questions abound for St. John’s in the prelude to perhaps the most critical beginning to a season in program history, the notion of how the Red Storm may handle the pressure is not one of them.

Ranked fifth in the nation after the preseason AP Top 25 poll released this past Monday, the obligatory Final Four and national championship buzz has accompanied the number next to the Johnnies’ collective name. And while Rick Pitino acknowledged the prognostication in his usual, understated way, the young men under his aegis have adopted his quiet confidence in their own preparation.

“We always think we have a solid chance to get to that point,” senior forward Zuby Ejiofor remarked on Thursday during St. John’s annual media day. “The coaching staff did a really great job recruiting out of the portal, (getting) guys that are really competitive and are ready to win now. And for most of us, with this being our last year, it’s Final Four, it’s national championship or bust, like Pitino says pretty often. We’re all ready to win.”

“Winning is the standard here. That’s what we’re trying to build here at St. John’s, so everybody’s really gotta come in with the right mindset, come in and know that there’s gonna be ups and downs, but just work through it.”

With the standard that was matched in last year’s 31-win renaissance and the Red Storm’s first NCAA Tournament win since 2000, Dillon Mitchell acknowledged the pressure exists and comes with the territory, but also admitted that he and his teammates are trying to not get too high or low leading up to the November 3 opener against Quinnipiac.

“(Pitino) has talked about it for us,” Mitchell, a Cincinnati transfer, said of the pressure. “He’s preached to love the pressure, enjoy the pressure, so it’s something we know, the success we can have, the type of expectations there are. We try to stay level-headed. Zuby, who’s been here, Sadiku (Ibine Ayo), who’s been here, they know what comes with it when you win in New York, and they’ve kind of preached to all the new guys that it’s there if you’re winning and you’re doing your thing, but it can go away like that when you’re not winning.”

“I’ve never been Top 5 to start a season, so it’s definitely exciting. We haven’t even played yet and there’s a lot of season to come, a lot of games to come, so we try to stay level-headed.”

The Top 5 ranking has also come with an added conversation starter among fans, that being the presence of longtime rival UConn directly atop St. John’s at No. 4 in the polls as the Huskies chase a third national championship in four seasons. But for Ian Jackson, who left a tradition-rich history at North Carolina to attend his hometown school, anything beyond the walls of his own locker room may as well be nonexistent.

“I don’t really care,” the Bronx native said of UConn and its respective ranking. “I’m worried about the guys that are in red and white. That’s about it.”

“I feel like for any program in the country, the goal is to win as much as you can. For us, it’s the same thing. Win as many games as we can, that’s the goal, and get better every single day. We’re super deep, we have a lot of talented guys, and that can be great for us if we get our things together. If we work and come together as a team, it could be amazing for us.”

Oziyah Sellers, newly minted as the starting point guard for the Red Storm at the moment, followed last season from a distance while at Stanford, as the California native was close to former center Vince Iwuchukwu, who has since transferred to Georgetown. Sellers saw how New York embraced the Johnnies as they racked up wins, and conceded that the adulation attracted him to join the attempt at an encore, while also maintaining the same grounded approach as his teammates.

“That’s definitely something I noticed last year,” Sellers said of how St. John’s captivated the city last season. “Vince was on the team, so whenever I could, I’d tune into games and check in with him. But just seeing how pretty much the whole city of New York embraced the team, how could you not want to be a part of that?”

“We know the expectations are super high on us this year, but Coach hasn’t focused too much on that. He just wants us focused on attacking each and every day as best as possible, so that’s what we’ve been trying to focus on. Obviously we want to think long-term and Final Four, but at the end of the day, I feel like the best approach is focusing on each and every day.”

Bryce Hopkins, who headlined Pitino’s top-ranked transfer class following his exodus from Providence, believes his new squad has the pieces necessary for a special season, but did say it was a matter of building team chemistry. But for his likely frontcourt partner, the significance of such a season would carry a greater value as he enters his last rodeo in red and white.

“It would mean a lot,” Ejiofor said. “I could tell just from personal experience from the work we put in last year. Even the Big East championship just means so much to the city and so much to the fan base. Our thing right now is to just be the best versions of ourselves, each and every day, to get to that point.”