For the first time in five years, St. John’s has a number next to its name.
Rick Pitino’s Johnnies are ranked No. 22 in the latest Associated Press poll that was released Monday afternoon.
They were last ranked in January of 2019 under former coach Chris Mullin. St. John’s was never ranked in four years with Mike Anderson.
The last time St. John’s was ranked before Thanksgiving, you have to go all the way back to November of 2000.
They broke into the rankings after a strong opening week that saw them crush Fordham and Quinnipiac by a combined 55 points.
RJ Luis led the way in the win over Quinnipiac, the MAAC preseason favorite, by scoring 24 points and adding 13 rebounds. Luis was named to the Big East honor roll.
After hosting Wagner on Wednesday, St. John’s schedule gets much tougher.
On Sunday at the Garden, it will face New Mexico, which is coming off a win at UCLA, and then head to the Bahamas to take on No. 12 Baylor on Nov. 21.
If the Johnnies beat Baylor, it would likely face No. 11 Tennessee, which plays Virginia in the opening round of the Baha Mar Hoops Championship, the following night.
St. John’s is one of four Big East teams in the AP poll, joining Connecticut (3), Creighton (14) and Marquette (15). Rutgers remained in the top-25 at No. 24.
