St. John's sits behind No. 1 UConn in Big East coaches preseason poll; two players get big-time recognition

If it didn’t already seem like St. John’s and Connecticut were again on a collision course to battle for the Big East title, the conference’s coaches confirmed it on Thursday when the results of their preseason poll were announced before the start of Big East Media Day in Manhattan.

UConn got eight first-place voted and two second-place votes to finish with 98 points (coaches don’t list their own teams). The Red Storm got two first-place votes, six second-place votes and two third-place votes to finish with 90 points.

St. John’s also had two players selected to the preseason all-Big East first team: Baylor transfer Tounde Yessoufou and returning junior Ian Jackson. Yessoufou, part of the nation’s top-ranked transfer class according to 247sports.com, was one of three unanimous selections.

St. John’s last season became the first Big East team to win the regular season and tournament championships in back-to-back seasons. The Storm (30-7) got a No. 5 seeding for the NCAA Tournament and reached its first Sweet 16 since 1999. UConn split in the regular season with the Storm and lost the Big East Tournament championship but landed a No. 2 seeding because of its impressive non-conference wins. The Huskies (34-6) reached their third national championship game in four seasons but fell to Michigan.

Villanova took third place in the poll with 81 points and Marquette was fourth with 73 points and got the other first-place vote. Storm coach Rick Pitino had suggested this summer he envisioned the Golden Eagles as the favorite was likely the coach to cast that first-place vote.

In order of their finish in the coaches’ poll, the other seven teams were: Providence, Xavier, Creighton, DePaul, Seton Hall and Butler.

Yessoufou, a 6-5 sophomore, averaged 17.8 points and 5.9 rebounds for the Bears last season. He had been an early entry for the NBA Draft and had been envisioned as a late first-round pick, but withdrew his name at the 11th hour to transfer to the Red Storm.

The 6-5 Jackson averaged 9.4 points last season and is one of a trio of returning juniors who were in the Storm’s rotation, along with 6-10 Ruben Prey and 6-5 Lefteris Liotopoulos.

Red Storm commits' eligibility up in air

There remains ambiguity regarding the eligibility of a few Red Storm commits for what could be the most talented St. John’s team in Pitino’s four seasons as head coach.

British point guard Quinn Ellis, who played professionally in the EuroLeague, is awaiting the NCAA’s decision on a reinstatement application.

Auburn transfer Keyshawn Hall is a plaintiff in a pair of lawsuits against the NCAA seeking the fifth year of eligibility that the association gave in June to players who were juniors, sophomores and freshmen last season but not to seniors.

Indiana transfer Reed Bailey has been granted a temporary restraining order by a California court granting him a fifth year of eligibility to play this coming season. The NCAA is appealing the decision and Pitino testified in a hearing Monday on the appeal.

A hearing is scheduled in Queens Supreme Court Monday regarding the eligibility of Babacar Sane, who played professionally last season in Germany. At issue is his professional play in the years before that with G League Ignite and the G League Iowa Wolves and Salt Lake Stars, as well as the Exhibit 10 contract he signed with the Utah Jazz, who waived him before he participated in any team activities.

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.