St. John’s Hosts Rutgers on Saturday to Support Pediatric Cancer Research

Saturday, October 21

2 p.m.

St. John's University

Rutgers (Exh.)

Tickets

St. John’s Hosts Rutgers on Saturday to Support Pediatric Cancer Research

10/19/2023 3:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Buy Tickets Live Stats

Red Storm and Scarlet Knights participate in a charity exhibition to generate funds for the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at The V Foundation

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball team will face its first opponent of the 2023-24 preseason on Saturday when the Red Storm hosts local Big Ten rival Rutgers for a charity exhibition inside Carnesecca Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. with ticket proceeds benefiting the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at the V Foundation.

The first 1,000 students in attendance will receive an exclusive St. John's Basketball t-shirt. Fans will also receive a 2023-24 Red Storm men's basketball schedule poster. General admission tickets are still available to purchase for $10 by clicking here. Tickets are also available at the St. John's Box Office.

The Johnnies enter their first season under Hall of Fame Coach Rick Pitino, who will embark on his 36^th campaign at the helm of an NCAA Division I program. The two-time national champion has accumulated an 834-293 career record and is the winningest active coach in Division I. Pitino returns to the BIG EAST for his third stint after previous stops at Providence and Louisville. He owns a 112-60 mark in conference play to go with three BIG EAST Tournament Championships and a pair of BIG EAST Regular Season Championships.

The new-look Red Storm features 12 newcomers who will complement a pair of returnees in senior captain Joel Soriano and Drissa Traore. Soriano is coming off a season where he earned BIG EAST Most Improved Player honors after posting 25 double-doubles, the most in program history since Walter Berry recorded 28 in 1985-86. The Yonkers, N.Y., native also registered 15.4 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, the latter ranking fourth in the nation.

Among the dozen new players brought in by Coach Pitino and his staff are reigning Ivy League Player of the Year and NCAA Division I's second-leading scorer Jordan Dingle, who recorded 23.4 points per game with Penn last season. The Johnnies welcomed unanimous All-Ivy League First Team selection Chris Ledlum, former Iona standout Daniss Jenkins and 2023 National Champion Nahiem Alleyne.

The Red Storm expects to benefit from several other newcomers with Division I experience, having brought in two-year Pac-12 standout Glenn Taylor Jr. out of Oregon State and 1,000-point scorer Sean Conway from VMI. St. John's will also look to its underclassmen newcomers for production this season such as Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor, UMass standout RJ Luis Jr., Iona products Cruz Davis and Sadiku Ibine Ayo, and a pair of top freshman prospects in Brady Dunlap and Simeon Wilcher.

St. John's and Rutgers will meet in the preseason for the first time since 2017 when the Johnnies visited The RAC for an exhibition game that benefitted the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

The former BIG EAST rivals last squared off in the regular season on November 16, 2018, with the Red Storm earning an 84-65 victory in Piscataway as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games. St. John's previously hosted Rutgers inside Carnesecca Arena on Nov. 19, 2015, as the Red Storm edged the Scarlet Knights, 61-59, in the inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games.

Tickets for the charity exhibition match can be found by clicking here. All proceeds will go to the Dick Vitale Pediatric Cancer Research Fund at the V Foundation.