When it comes to roster construction, there’s one big difference between the way Deion Sanders rebuilt the Colorado football program and how Rick Pitino is reshaping things for the men’s basketball program at St. John’s. 

“The difference between Deion [and I], Deion had a lot of players that weren’t ready to play at that level,” Pitino said during an interview on “SportsCenter” on Thursday live from St. John’s. “I had really good players at St. John’s. [Former coach] Mike Anderson did a tremendous job recruiting, I just wanted a whole different culture.

“But the guys that were here, they could play.”

Sanders revamped Colorado’s roster, with 71 players leaving via the transfer portal once he arrived.

The arrival of Coach Prime has pushed the football team to national prominence, and in Jamaica, Queens, St. John’s is hoping Pitino can do the same. 

Pitino and his staff have been busy recruiting players to St. John’s since he was hired in March. 

The program has added 12 new recruits and only two players from the Anderson era remain. 

Pitino had said previously that former players treated the Johnnies’ former coach with “disrespect,” including during an interview on WFAN earlier this month. 

The change around the men’s basketball program is clearly palpable with the start of the season approaching quickly. After the program has meandered over a number of years, the expectations are high with Pitino at the helm. 

The head coach said during the interview that he’s measuring success this year as St. John’s making it to the NCAA Tournament. St. John’s made an appearance in the First Four of the tournament in 2019, but the last time it qualified beyond that was in 2015 when the team lost in the second round to San Diego State. 

Pitino is one of two coaches to lead three different college hoops programs to the Final Four, and he’s coming off a successful run as head coach at Iona. 

He called his time at the New Rochelle college a “spectacular three years” but added it was the most pressure he’s felt in his entire coaching career. 

“More than Kentucky, more than the Knicks,” Pitino said. “Because you go through a season and win 25 games, you enter the [conference] tournament, if you don’t win that tournament you’re not one of nine bids. One of seven, one of six. That pressure was amazing. I enjoyed it thoroughly though.” 

St. John’s opens its season on Nov. 7 against Stony Brook.