QUEENS, NY – The St. John's men's basketball team will be ranked No. 1 on Thursday. 25 Visit Rutgers as part of a charity exhibition supporting the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund and the V Foundation.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Jersey Mike's Arena. Big Ten Network will broadcast the preseason matchup featuring Andy Katz and Austin Johnson from Piscataway, New Jersey

Fresh off a 20-win season, St. John's head coach Rick Pitinowho celebrates his 37th^Th This season at the helm of a Division I program, he will look to build on a successful 2023-24 campaign that saw Johnnies reach the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2000. Pitino, the winningest active coach in Division I, led the Red Storm to 11 wins in BIG EAST play, marking the program's most wins since the 2010-11 season.

For the second time in as many years, St. John's received votes in the Associated Press (AP) Preseason Top 25 poll. The Johnnies recorded 91 votes, the second-most votes of any team outside the top 25. St. John's was also one of six teams from the BIG EAST to receive votes.

St. John's is ranked 19th in the KenPom.com ratings for the 2024-25 season, the second-highest grade for the program since the rankings were created before the 1997 season. Only the 1999-2000 team had a higher rating, to start the season ranked No. 7 before advancing to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

St. John's will face the Scarlet Knights in a charity game for the second straight year. Last season, the Johnnies edged Rutgers in a preseason double-overtime thriller that raised significant funds for the V Foundation's Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund. Nahiem Alleynewho hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force the second overtime, led the Red Storm with 19 points en route to an 89-78 victory on October 21, 2023 in Queens.

The Red Storm welcomes you back Zuby Ejiofor, RJ Luis Jr., Simeon Wilcher, Brady Dunlap And Sadiku Ibine Ayo. Ejiofor, who was named the team's co-captain for the upcoming season, is entering his second season with the Red Storm after coming to Queens from Kansas. Ejiofor appeared in all 33 games last season and averaged 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 11.2 minutes per game.

Luis is the top returning scorer and rebounder last season, posting 10.9 points, 4.6 points to go and just over one steal per contest. The Miami, Florida native scored a season-best 20 points against then-No. 17/18 Marquette. Wilcher is also entering his second season with the Johnnies, as the New Jersey product posted 2.8 points and just over one assist in 9.1 minutes per game. Dunlap appeared in 25 games as a freshman last season, playing 12.4 minutes per contest, while Ibine Ayo was sidelined for most of the year due to injury.

With five players – Joel Soriano (14.9 pages per minute), Daniss Jenkins (13.8 ppg), Jordan Dingle (11.6 ppg), Chris Ledlum (9.5 ppg) and Naheim Alleyne (6.4 ppg) – who graduated last year and accounted for 69.4 percent of the Red Storm's scoring – St. John's reloaded with the 11^Th-Best transfer class in the 2024 offseason, according to On3.com.

Former Seton Hall star and 2024 All-BIG EAST First Team selection Kadary Richmond Headlines about the incoming transfer class. Averaging career-highs of 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, the Brooklyn native led the Pirates to the 2024 NIT Championship. Richmond led the team with 13.8 points, 9.4 points and 6.4 assists on the way to being named to the NIT All-Tournament Team.

The Johnnies have added another NIT champion to their roster Aaron Scottwho played the last three seasons at North Texas. A defensive-minded winger, the Spring, Texas native hit the final shot against Wisconsin in the 2023 NIT semifinals before scoring 14 points and defeating UAB in the title game. Scott also faced the Red Storm in the Charleston Classic last season, scoring 13 points and pulling down seven boards in a loss to St. John's on Nov. 16, 2023

Similar to Scott and Richmond, senior guard Devon Smith This season he also swapped his opponent's colors to join the Red Storm. Despite missing the third-place game with St. John's at the Charleston Classic, the transfer from Utah delivered a near-historic season with five triple-doubles, just shy of the NCAA record. The Decatur, Georgia, native capped his run with the Utes with two triple-doubles in the 2024 NIT Tournament before scoring a career-best 28 points on 10 of 16 shooting in the semifinals against Indiana State.

Former USC big man Vince Iwuchukwu rounds off the Johnnies' transfer class. The 7-foot-1 center, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, played two seasons with the Trojans, averaging 5.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

The Red Storm's roster also includes talented newcomers Jaiden Glover, Lefteris Liotopoulos, Khaman creator And Ruben Prey. A consensus four-star, Glover helped Patrick School to an 11-0 record, posting 13.1 points, 4.4 boards and 2.2 assists per contest over the last 10 games. A 7-foot-1 center, Maker also excelled nationally in the Nike EYBL Peach Jam with 2.7 blocks per game, while he averaged 8.4 boards and 6.3 points with the Oakland Soldiers.

Liotopoulos, who is from Thessaloniki, Greece, and Prey, from Lisbon, Portugal, traveled a total of 8,300 miles to play for St. John's this season. The duo excelled at international level and both played for their national teams. Liotopoulos appeared in seven competitions for the Greece U18 national team and averaged 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. In total, Prey played 18 international matches for Team Portugal. The 1.90 meter tall forward shone at the U20 FIBA ​​European Championship 2022 with 16.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in seven games.

Rutgers posted an overall record of 15-17 during the 2023-24 season. However, according to On3.com, the Scarlet Knights enter the upcoming season with the sixth-best recruiting class. With five top-150 recruits, McDonald's All-Americans Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are the top picks in the class and will look to make an immediate impact for the Scarlet Knights. The duo was ranked as the No. 2 and No. 3 incoming freshmen in the country, respectively. Harper was also selected to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team.

Following Thursday's contest, St. John's returns to Carnesecca Arena for the final vote and will face Towson on Saturday, Oct. 26, in a charity exhibition to support Autism Speaks. The preseason competition ends at 12:00 p.m. Click here to purchase tickets.