Rick Pitino’s St. John’s look ready for next season. The Red Storm have been highly active in the transfer portal. They have added 9 new players into the mix including transfers, international stars and freshmen signings. Rick Pitino led the Johnnies to an impressive season with a quality squad. However, only two players returned for the next season.
Ian Jackson and Ruben Prey are excited to grow their game under Rick Pitino. Both stars showed some great potential and only way is up for them. The transfers include Donnie Freeman from Syracuse who was about to choose Kentucky but picked St. John’s instead. Kyle Cuffe Jr from Mercer and Avery Brown from Columbia also committed to the Red Storm.
Their international additions include British point guard Quinn Ellis, forward from Montenegro with G-League experience Djordije Jovanovic and 7’0 Serbian center Lazar Stojkovic. Two freshmen Theo Edema and Babacar Sane sum up their team so far. However, it just got better for Rick Pitino as an elite talent like Tounde Yessoufou withdrew from the NBA draft and committed to St. John’s
Rick Pitino took to his X and shared how he felt about the new incoming star. But he also announced that the team was not done just yet.
“Super excited for the addition of Tounde. We will add one more scholarship player in the next 24 hours and are roster will be complete. Couldn’t be more fired up for this upcoming season!” He posted.
Tounde Yessoufoe is extremely athletic and plays with a certain relentlessness. Many believe he has an NBA level physicality. He was a standout with Baylor in his freshman year averaging 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. At 6’5, Rick Pitino is getting a physical scorer who has a knack for efficiency.
Rick Pitino and St. John’s fail in the Sweet 16
Although, the regular season was impressive to a point, Rick Pitino could not take his team deep in the NCAA tournament. St. John’s lost to Jon Scheyer and Cameron Boozer-led Duke in the Sweet 16.
Zuby Ejiofor lead the team with 16.3 points per game, followed by Bryce Hopkins with 13.6 and Oziyah Sellers with 10.3. Zuby Ejiofor was their best player last season.
Now with a completely revamped roster, Rick Pitino has to navigate how he will have his team play. It’s hard to say whether the new roster is better than last year’s but one thing that’s for sure is that Rick Pitino has another highly talented team to coach.
Read more:
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