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Sports · North America

Pitino warns St. John's 'far behind on the fundamentals' after 81-52 exhibition win over Drexel

St. John’s beat Drexel 81-52 in an exhibition at Carnesecca Arena, and head coach Rick Pitino said the team is "so far behind on the fundamentals." Pitino highlighted defensive rebounding and 19 turnovers as key problems while also praising the roster's upside and effort on defense.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 outlets' reportingHow it's made

3 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Too few ratedL 0 · C 1 · R 1 · 1 unrated
File photo
Photo: Adam Glanzman / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

What happened

Key facts

  • Rick Pitino said "We're just so far behind on the fundamentals." (per stormthepaint.com, yardbarker.com, New York Post).
  • Drexel had 14 offensive rebounds in the game (per yardbarker.com, New York Post).
  • Pitino said he loved the team's upside despite the fundamental shortcomings (per stormthepaint.com, yardbarker.com).
  • St. John’s had further exhibitions scheduled against Rutgers at Madison Square Garden and an exhibition against Texas on Oct. 25 (per yardbarker.com).

The brief

John’s opened its preseason exhibition slate with an 81-52 victory over Drexel at Carnesecca Arena, but head coach Rick Pitino warned that the team remains "so far behind on the fundamentals." Pitino delivered a mixed assessment after the game: he praised the roster’s upside and the players’ defensive effort while identifying clear areas that must improve before the regular season.

Multiple accounts record that St. John’s turned the ball over 19 times and gave up 14 offensive rebounds to Drexel, numbers Pitino singled out when he said rebounding would be his biggest point of emphasis. One source adds that the teams finished tied at 43 total rebounds and that St. John’s made 7 of 29 three-point attempts.

Ian Jackson provided a supporting scoring lift with 10 points off the bench during the exhibition, according to reporting that includes box-score detail.

Pitino and the outlets note that the roster coalesced late; one account reports some transfers committed at the end of August and that the full roster was together only at the start of the fall semester, a timeline Pitino cited as a reason the team needs work on fundamentals.

Reporters for the outlets say Pitino was nonetheless impressed by the team's effort on defense despite the turnovers and rebounding lapses, and he framed those shortfalls as teachable issues given the roster's perceived talent. The Red Storm have further tune-up opportunities: media accounts list an exhibition versus Rutgers at Madison Square Garden and an Oct.

25 exhibition against Texas as upcoming stops before the November season opener. Coverage across outlets is consistent on the score, Pitino’s main quote about fundamentals, the turnovers and Drexel’s offensive-rebounding tally; individual pieces differ in the box-score details they highlight and in how much they emphasise the roster's late assembly.

Taken together, the reporting presents a team that won comfortably on the scoreboard but still needs to fix ball security and defensive rebounding ahead of games against higher-profile opponents.

Why it matters

  • St. John’s players and coaches bear the immediate cost: 19 turnovers and 14 offensive rebounds indicate ball-security and defensive rebounding weaknesses that will leave possessions and scoring opportunities on the table against stronger opponents.
  • Fans and ticket-paying spectators face a tangible production risk: the team’s poor perimeter shooting (7-for-29 from three-point range) and turnover rate could depress offensive efficiency in marquee home games at Madison Square Garden.
  • Coaching and roster-development interests are at stake: Pitino has signalled that fixing fundamentals is a priority, which will shape practice plans, playing time and the evaluation of recent transfers whose late arrival the coach linked to the issues.
  • Opponents with documented upcoming matchups—Rutgers and Texas—have concrete scouting advantages from the box-score details reported (turnovers, offensive rebounds, three-point percentages) that they can exploit in game planning.

What to watch next

  • Whether St. John’s reduces turnovers from 19 in the Drexel exhibition in its next exhibition against Rutgers at Madison Square Garden.
  • Whether St. John’s limits opponents’ offensive rebounds below Drexel’s 14 in the Rutgers exhibition listed by the sources.
  • Whether three-point shooting improves from the reported 7-for-29 rate in the next two exhibitions noted by reporters, including the Oct. 25 game against Texas.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
3 source articles · 3 unique outlets
Coverage mix: Too few rated· 1 Center · 1 Right
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 67% · Unknown 33%
Coverage mix
Too few rated
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
1 outlet
1 outlet
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
3 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

1 factual disagreement · 3 framing differences · 3 uncorroborated claims · 3 information gaps
Sources disagree on one factual point.Compared across 3 reports whose full text Updat3 used.
Factual disagreements
Sources report different numbers, dates, attribution or causes for the same thing.
  • One outlet reports the teams tied at 43 total rebounds; other accounts list Drexel’s 14 offensive rebounds and St. John’s turnovers but do not repeat the 43 total-rebounds figure.
Updat3: The evidence conflicts; Updat3 does not present either version as established.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources agree on the facts but emphasise different angles, actors or consequences.
  • Some outlets emphasise Pitino’s praise of the roster’s upside alongside his criticism of fundamentals, while others foreground the coach’s warning that the team is far behind on fundamentals.
  • Pitino directly attributes the team's shortcomings to being 'so far behind on the fundamentals' and cites late roster assembly; outlets attribute that quote and timeline to Pitino rather than stating it as an independent fact.
  • The exact reasons for the late roster assembly are presented in varying detail; one outlet links it to transfers committing at the end of August, while others simply note the roster came together late without specifying dates.
Updat3: The underlying facts agree; only the emphasis differs.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Pitino attributes the fundamentals gap to the roster assembling late; outlets record the coach’s claim but do not provide independent evidence tying the delayed roster assembly to the specific in-game mistakes.
  • "I really love our upside," and "We're just so far behind on the fundamentals," both attributed to Rick Pitino by multiple sources.
  • A New York Post account quotes Pitino saying rebounding 'was going to be the biggest point of emphasis.'
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • No report Updat3 read provides independent verification of which specific transfers arrived when beyond one outlet’s mention; no source supplies detailed breakdowns of minutes by player or a play-by-play to explain the turnovers.
  • No outlet reported longer-term historical rebounding or turnover trends for St. John’s that would show whether Wednesday’s numbers are anomalous.
  • No source referenced internal practice schedules, injury reports, or disciplinary decisions that could further explain early-season fundamentals issues.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

How we got here

Immediate backdrop: Rick Pitino was hired as St. John’s head coach on March 20, 2023, returning to the program after prior college and professional coaching stints. St. John’s announced a 2026 preseason slate that included exhibition games against Rutgers at Madison Square Garden and an exhibition at Texas on Oct. 25, 2026 (per contemporary reporting). Structural roots: St.

John’s competes in the Big East Conference, a league founded in 1979 and reorganized in its current form in 2013, which sets the conference schedule and postseason stakes. The NCAA Division I transfer portal, created in October 2018, and its evolving transfer/eligibility rules have shaped roster construction opportunities for programs like St. John’s.

Original sources

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