Rick Pitino’s ‘guarantee’ for St. John’s program is right on schedule

It’s said that nothing is guaranteed. These days, St. John’s fans might beg to differ.

Rick Pitino made a promise on that March day he was introduced a little less than two years ago — “St. John’s is going to be back, I guarantee it” — and now they are seeing precisely what it looks like when such a promise is being fulfilled.

The program has become a destination for talented players, from blue-chip high schoolers such as Simeon Wilcher to high-performing transfers Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith. Carnesecca Arena is never half-empty anymore and the days of drawing just 8,000 at the Garden are over. And the team on the court competes so hard and with such passion that opponents can struggle to keep up.

Rebuilding once-great programs is what Pitino has been doing for his entire career and his second seasons have typically been marked by quantum leaps.

St. John’s rolled into Tuesday night’s Garden matchup with Georgetown at 14-3, the three losses by a total of five points. The Red Storm’s 5-1 start in Big East play is their best since the 2000-01 season and a victory over the Hoyas would make them 6-1 for the first time since 1998-99, when they reached the NCAA Elite Eight.

“I feel like it’s happening,” RJ Luis Jr. said. “People are starting to see what type of program we are. And what coach Pitino is doing in his second year. Everybody knows analytically what he does [in the second season] and what he means to the program.”

Providence had lived in the Big East cellar for a half-dozen seasons and in two years, Pitino had the Friars in the Final Four. Kentucky had been laid low by scandal and in two years, he had the Wildcats at 22-6 and ranked in the Top 10. Once great Louisville had slipped into mediocrity and irrelevance and in two years, Pitino helped the Cardinals go 25-7 and earn their first NCAA Tournament No. 4 seeding in 10 years.

Speaking of the Garden crowd of 18,187 that saw St. John’s beat Villanova on Saturday night and the general reception he’s received in New York, Pitino said: “It’s really refreshing to see this, because . . . it’s been every program. Providence was dead last place since the inception of the Big East. Kentucky was a major scandal. Louisville, the great [Hall of Fame coach] Denny Crum retired. It’s always been an injured program. This program has been injured for a long time and we’d lost a big fan base.”

Resurrecting St. John’s may stand as the heaviest lift of them all.

When Pitino performed his magic at Providence, Kentucky and Louisville, the college basketball landscape was much different. One change is the lure of NIL money, often more plentiful at schools with big-time football. The other is the free movement of players from program to program through the transfer portal and the need to not only recruit players out of high school but also out of other college programs.

A program doesn’t just have to get players, it must try to keep them.

Often last season, Pitino lamented the free flow of players because it made it hard to build a team culture and program personality. St. John’s was able to retain five players from last season — including rotation regulars Zuby Ejiofor, Wilcher, Luis and Brady Dunlap — and each has become an even better player in their second year with Pitino.

Seventh-ranked Marquette has largely eschewed the transfer portal and thrived on player retention.

“I think that’s why Marquette is ahead of all of us right now, their retention is very good,” Pitino said last month. “Now we all may catch up to them and we have the potential to have Zuby back, Brady back, Sim back, Ruben Prey] back, [Lefteris Liotopoulos] back, RJ and Vince Iwuchukwu]. That’d be awesome. I want to get that feeling that I had at Kentucky, Providence and Louisville, where they really understand what it means to be a St John’s player,”

The development of the culture is the rising tide lifting the Red Storm boat. They have an identity now. Defense is the priority. The effort is always there. They don’t give up on plays. They are resourceful and find ways to win.

“When we first started out, Zuby was the guy playing his tail off,” Pitino said. “Now you just take a number for who it is — they’re all playing like that. I’m very proud of them. You always want to start a program with an incredible work ethic and they have it.”

Of course they do. It’s Pitino Year 2. We’ve seen it before. Just as he promised.