St. John’s has filled its vacant general manager position for the time being, according to Rick Pitino.
The school is hiring longtime Division I assistant coach Tom Ostrom to serve as a consultant and fill the role of interim general manager.
St. John’s fired former general manager Matt Abdelmassih in mid-January after looking into financial deals he made. The decision to move on from him was believed to be at least somewhat connected to that investigation.
Ultimately, it will be up to Ostrom if he wants the job long term. Ostrom, who has coached at West Virginia, Indiana, Dayton, Arkansas and Florida, lives with his wife and four children in West Virginia. He has attended multiple St. John’s games, including last Saturday’s rout of Villanova at the Garden.
Drake Bulldogs assistant coach Tom Ostrom looks on before a game against the Indiana State Sycamores. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“Tommy is going to get us through this recruiting period and if he wants it full time, he’s going to let us know,” Pitino told The Post. “If he wants the job full time, he has it.”
Not only did Ostrom, a Minnesota alum, work for former Pitino player Billy Donovan at Florida, he coached under John Pelphrey — another former Pitino player — at Arkansas and South Florida. Ostrom is also close with associate head coach Steve Masiello.
Pitino said Ostrom has been working the phones as St. John’s prepares for the transfer portal. The Red Storm will lose the entire starting frontcourt of Zuby Ejiofor, Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins, although Pitino said Thursday that he expects Joson Sanon to return. There is confidence internally that point guard Dylan Darling and forward Ruben Prey will be back as well, among others.
Indiana Hoosiers associate head coach Tom Ostrom points during a game against the Purdue Boilermakers on February 27, 2020. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images“I’ve known Tommy for 30-plus years. He worked for Billy Donovan as an assistant coach,” Pitino said. “He’s always been a well-connected assistant coach, and a tireless worker. He’s also a very honorable, trustworthy person. And that was the No. 1 prerequisite in hiring this person.”
St. John’s is expected to be very active in the transfer portal. Asked if the Johnnies will have the same financial wherewithal they did last spring when it brought in the top transfer class in the country, Pitino said: “We don’t really have a number, per se. It depends on the type of players who are going to be attracted to St. John’s.”
The transfer portal is scheduled to open April 7, the day after the national championship game. It opened last year after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. St. John’s focus will be on beefing up the point guard position and adding multiple players to the frontcourt.
