St. John’s hires Tom Ostrom as interim GM with transfer portal business looming

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 as an 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.

“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.”

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 Byrce Hopkins, although Pitino said on Thursday that he expects Joson Sanon to return. There is also confidence that point guard Dylan Darling and forward Ruben Prey will be back as well, among others.  

“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 portal. Asked if the Johnnies will have the same financial wherewithal it 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.”