From now until Villanova’s first game in Rome on November 1 against Notre Dame, WBR’s Andrew Kresin will run down the 10 other Big East programs as a MISE EN PLACE series. You can check out the rest of the series here.
General Information
- Head Coach: Rick Pitino (Fourth season at St. John’s, 81-25 record in Queens, 915-318 record overall)
- 2025-26 Record: 30-7 (18-2)
- 2025-26 Postseason: Won the Big East Tournament Championship against UConn, lost in NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen to Duke
- Coaches’ Poll Placement: Second (90 points, two first-place votes)
- Media Day All-Big East Members: First Team All-Big East selection Ian Jackson, First Team All-Big East selection Tounde Yessoufou
- 2026-27 Scoring Retention: ~19.7 percent of scoring across five players
Key Returners
St. John’s kept just a few pieces from last season’s Sweet Sixteen appearance, arguably none more valuable to Coach Pitino than junior guard Ian Jackson. Jackson started in more than half of the Red Storm’s games last season, but only played around 660 minutes, well below the four players who logged 1,000+ minutes last season. Despite a limited workload, he was making a considerable effort to be St. John’s premier offensive weapon while on the floor. He led St. John’s in field goal attempts per 40 minutes (17.0) and was second behind Zuby Ejiofor in points per 40 minutes (20.7) while shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three. His field goal attempts per 40 minutes mark was seventh among Big East players with at least 500 minutes played.
Normalizing statistics with the per 40 minutes method helps to gauge what a player can do with an expanded role, and in this case shows that Jackson will be a true scorer for Coach Pitino this season. However, Jackson has struggled at times to be more than just a scorer for the Red Storm. He saw an increase in his assist totals from his freshman year at UNC to his sophomore season in Queens, but he still dished out less than one assist per turnover. His rebound totals fell, but he played on one of the best rebounding teams in the country. He also shot considerably worse from the field and three despite less minutes year-over-year, though his workload was quite significant as mentioned above. Jackson will need to improve his efficiency both shooting and passing the ball if he wants to make a larger impact on the Red Storm.
Junior forward Ruben Prey comes back to St. John’s after making an impression on the biggest stage against Duke. Prey drained four three pointers against the Blue Devils, his best scoring performance in around five months for the Red Storm. Then, in the offseason, he played in the FIBA 2027 World Cup European Qualifiers, where he logged 59 minutes over two games and scored 30 points. Prey’s sophomore season at St. John’s was not overly impressive, with just four double-digit games and no more than one game with five or more rebounds, but his stock rose considerably in the postseason and offseason.
Both Prey and Jackson played in several exhibitions getting ready for the season, both starting in all three games. Jackson shot a combined 19-of-43 and scored 52 points playing hefty minutes. Prey played less and scored less but still threatened defenses with his range by attempting at least one three pointer in each of the three games.
Junior guard Lefteris Liotopoulos is the last of the major returning players for St. John’s. He came off the bench in each of his performances last season, seeing extended time if he was scoring. This included a season-high 17 points in 29 minutes against Creighton in Omaha, where he drained five three pointers. Liotopoulos scored just two points in the three exhibition games but will be a steady hand off the bench for Coach Pitino.
Key Transfers
Let’s start with the preseason All-Big East selection. Sophomore guard Tounde Yessoufou averaged nearly 18 points and 5.9 rebounds per game in his freshman year at Baylor. He finished second on the team in scoring shooting 46.5 percent from the field on a team-leading 14.3 shot attempts per game. He also finished second on the team in total rebounds last season with 199, behind just Caden Powell’s 214 total rebounds.
I think the other important part to mention about Yessoufou is his ball pressure. He stole the ball 67 times last season for Baylor, a total that is more than double the second highest player for the Bears and third in the Big 12 Conference. His ability to generate fast break points by himself is incredible; CBB Analytics says that Yessoufou scored 3.3 fast break points per game last season. For reference, that average landed Yessoufou in the 96th percentile nationally. Similarly, Yessoufou’s 8.1 points in the paint per game landed him in the 97th percentile nationally. His ability to apply ball pressure defensively and attack the rim offensively makes him one of the premier freshman transfers in the country.
Graduate forward Keyshawn Hall from Auburn has been an explosive scorer at every stop since his sophomore year. While at George Mason in that sophomore season, Hall averaged 16.6 points and snatched 8.1 rebounds per game. In his junior season, then with UCF, Hall led the Big 12 Conference in points per game average at 18.8, but also led in total free throw makes and attempts with nearly 200 free throws made and 244 free throws attempted. Then, in his senior season with Auburn, Hall once again was a scoring machine averaging 19.3 points per game and led the SEC with 228 free throw makes.
He has so much experience on offense just scoring the basketball; he has 1,303 field goal attempts to his career so far. He also has logged nearly 3,400 minutes in his last four seasons. What makes me especially intrigued is his 670 total free throw attempts in the last four years, which already is a top 70 mark for careers spanning in the last 10 seasons. If granted a fifth season, which he is currently eligible for via a temporary restraining order, he’ll join Yessoufou as a player who can apply a ton of pressure at the bucket. In the most recent exhibition against Texas, both Yessoufou and Hall made eight field goal attempts and combined for 15 total free throw attempts.
Graduate forward Reed Bailey is also fighting for a fifth season of college basketball and is currently eligible. He was a strong post scorer for Davidson in his first three season of college basketball, averaging 12.4 points over his career at Davidson while shooting 46.2 percent form the field. He also had some ability to stretch the floor like Prey. But when he transferred to Indiana for his senior season, Bailey was strictly a post presence, scoring 8.3 points and grabbing 3.4 rebounds per game. In his junior season with Davidson, he led the Atlantic 10 Conference in two pointers made and attempted while also leading the conference in free throws made and attempted. Coach Pitino will look to unlock that third-year version of Bailey.
Junior forward Donnie Freeman was supposed to be another strong addition for St. John’s, but the university announced that he “underwent successful surgery for his right Achilles tendon after suffering a non-contact injury.” Those types of injuries usually require a long recovery, so we might not see the 16.5 point per game scorer for the Red Storm in the 2026-27 season.
Key College Newcomers
Rick Pitino went and got several college newcomers, some of whom needed legal support to play this season. Senior guard Quinn Ellis won eligibility just this month after playing 64 games in the 2025-26 season for Olimpia Milano across Serie A and EuroLeague competition. He averaged 7.7 points and 4.2 assists per game on an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7-to-1. He also averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 assists in 2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers and was placed on the Preseason Bob Cousy Award Watchlist on Monday.
Senior forward Babacar Sane has American basketball experience playing in the G-League for three seasons before his most recent stint for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg in Germany. While playing in Germany, Sane appeared in 32 games and averaged 9.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 16.7 minutes per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field. While in the G-League in 2024-25, Sane averaged 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds across 29 games and seven starts for the Iowa Wolves and Salt Lake City Stars.
Freshman forward Theo Edema finished the 2026 season as a top-125 four star in the 247Sports recruiting system. He reclassified from the 2027 Class to be on the St. John’s roster this season. He has been getting good minutes as St. John’s backup big man for their exhibitions, getting 12 minutes, four points and seven rebounds in his most recent outing against Texas.
Sane and Ellis have also been playing throughout the exhibitions. Ellis had seven assists to zero turnovers against Texas, while Sane logged 12 minutes and four points.
Others
St. John’s returns both sophomore guard Fotis Konstantinidis and sophomore guard Casper Pohto from last season’s team. They combined for just five points last season but will be ready if their numbers are called.
Two additional players transferred into St. John’s, including graduate guard Avery Brown and graduate guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. Neither guard played significant minutes in the exhibitions, combining for just seven minutes played, but both are good scorers from Columbia and Mercer respectively and will look to break into the rotation this upcoming season.
St. John’s also has two more newcomers. Senior forward Zsombor Maronka from Hungary appeared in 27 Bundesliga games in Germany and averaged 7.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Freshman center Lazar Stojkovic from Serbia made 18 appearances for BKK Radnicki with an average of 5.2 points per outing in 2025-26.
Outlook
Rick Pitino has, yet again, a big team with talented players across the roster. Their physical intensity has been a strong suit of theirs for the best several seasons, but to have a playmaker as strong as Ellis will help propel them to a higher level offensively. If St. John’s can get strong seasons from their newcomers, the Johnnies will be in competition to defend their Big East Championships yet again.
Credits
St. John’s player information (demographics, player stats from high school, et cetera) found on the St. John’s athletics webpage. Player stats from other schools found on Sports-Reference. Advanced statistics found on CBB Analytics. Lists made with Stathead. Player rankings from high school found on 247Sports. Charts made in Microsoft Excel.