There is a story Rick Pitino likes to tell about his start coaching overseas in the EuroLeague with Panathinaikos. 

It was the week leading into Christmas 2018 and an opportunity arose. He had been at home in semi-retirement. On Christmas Eve, he was suddenly coaching in Greece. 

“From that point on, I’ve always believed: adjust and adapt,” the St. John’s coach recalled Thursday as the Big East held its annual media day at the Marriott Marquis in Midtown. 

There’s been a lot of that since the Johnnies last took the court in March following a second straight 30-win season. 

On April 14, St. John’s began to reshape its roster with the addition of EuroLeague point guard Quinn Ellis. They weren’t done until the end of August, with the commitment of Auburn transfer Keyshawn Hall. Hall is one of hundreds of seniors from a year ago who are seeking a fifth year of eligibility after the NCAA passed a new eligibility rule that grants five years of eligibility for players, but declined to grandfather it in for the high school class of 2022. 

In between, prized Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon, Montenegrin wing Djordije Jovanovic never made it to Queens due to problems acquiring a student visa and high school recruit Gildas Gimenez was ruled an academic non-qualifier. 

“Now that we’re all together, it’s quite a group,” Pitino said. 

Even now, less than two weeks before the first exhibition game against Drexel, the uber-talented roster isn’t completely set. There is optimism Pitino & Co. will have everyone cleared in time for the regular season opener against Monmouth on Nov. 2. 

Highly touted Senegalese wing Babacar Sane has an injunction hearing in Queens Supreme Court on Monday after initially receiving a temporary restraining order in his fight against the NCAA for eligibility. Ellis is still waiting to hear from the NCAA about his status, although a number of international players with similar professional backgrounds have been cleared in recent days. Lastly, Hall is a part of a large case in Ohio that was granted a preliminary injunction, but is waiting for a decision from the Ohio Court of Appeals. He filed a separate case in Queens Supreme Court this week. 

“We feel everybody’s going to be fine, everybody is going to be playing, so we don’t deal with it,” Pitino said. “These guys are working their tails off right now, and we let the courts handle it.” 

If everyone is given the go-ahead, it could be a special year in Queens. Pitino called it his most talented team on paper at St. John’s. 

The backcourt of Ellis and Ian Jackson has the chance to be dynamite. High-scoring wing Tounde Yessoufou, who set the Baylor record for most points scored by a freshman (605) last winter, was a projected late-first-round NBA draft pick before opting to return to school. The 6-foot-7 Hall averaged 19.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and shot 37.9 percent from 3-point range last year for Auburn in the powerhouse SEC, and everyone, from coaches to teammates to alumni who played against the new team back in July, have raved about the gifted 6-8 Sane. 

“I think we have frontcourt talent as good as anybody in the country,” Pitino, 74, said. “The reason I say that is we’re deep. I don’t know who the best player is. One day it can be Babacar. The next day it could be [Indiana transfer] Reed Bailey, next day it could be Ruben, Tounde, Keyssawn. It’s a talented group — now they just have to learn to play together.” 

It may not happen overnight, of course. The only returnees who saw significant minutes a year ago are Jackson and forward Ruben Prey. The group wasn’t all together until the start of the fall semester, and while there is loads of basketball experience with this team, college basketball is new to the likes of Sane, Ellis and Hungarian import Zsombor Maronka. 

It took last year’s team until mid-January to begin to hit its stride, and it’s not like Pitino lined up a group of cupcakes in the nonconference this year. St. John’s hosts Arizona and visits Alabama early in December, and will return to Las Vegas for the loaded Players Era Festival the week of Thanksgiving. 

“It’s a very difficult schedule and I’ll be very frank: We’re not going to be ready for that schedule,” the Hall of Fame coach warned. “But come January and February, I expect to witness a great basketball team.”