Big East Roundup: St. John’s Rearms With No. 1 Transfer Class

This is one in a series of stories covering roster changes around the Big East heading into the 2025-26 college basketball season.

St. John’s won the Big East for the first time since 2000 last season, locking down a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament during their second season under hall of fame head coach Rick Pitino. While the Red Storm suffered an upset loss during the Round of 32, they currently hold the fourth-best odds (+1600) of winning it all this season according to ESPN.

Pitino has earned the benefit of doubt, but the Red Storm lost a great deal of production in the offseason. Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. departed for the NBA, and guards Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith both graduated. They’ll return 6-foot-9 forward Zuby Ejiofor, who finished second on the team in points (14.7) and led in rebounds (8.1) and blocks (1.4). 

The other three returning players for St. John’s are 6-foot-6 senior forward Sadiku Ibine Ayo, 6-foot-10 sophomore forward Ruben Prey and 6-foot-4 sophomore guard Lefteris Liotopoulos, all of whom played sparingly last season.

As such, the Red Storm will need to replace plenty of production after losing nine players to graduation, the NBA or the transfer portal on a roster that only had 13 players last season.

Top Ranked Transfer Class

Pitino and his staff put together the top transfer class in the country in response, with five-star sophomore and Bronx native Ian Jackson serving as the headliner. A 6-foot-4 guard, Jackson averaged 11.9 points in 23.8 minutes per game last season, converting 60 of 152 three-point attempts.

The Red Storm also brought in four four-star transfers. 6-foot-8 senior forward Dillon Mitchell put up 9.9 points and 6.9 rebounds on a Cincinnati Bearcats team that narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament after a hot start, and 6-foot-5 guard Joson Sanon averaged 11.9 points per game during his true freshman season at Arizona State. 

Continuing the trend of high-scoring guards, senior Oziyah Sellers put up 13.7 points per game at Stanford, while Bryce Hopkins, formerly of Big East rival Providence, averaged 17 points but played just three games as he struggled to recover from an ACL injury. Dylan Darling, a three-star, lit up the Big Sky Conference for 19.8 points and 5.7 assists per game as a sophomore, and 6-foot-11 center/power forward Handje Tamba played at Milligan College (NAIA) after stints at Tennessee and Weber State to begin his Division I career.

St. John’s got a late start on the recruiting game, with all four of their incoming freshmen committing after the calendar turned to April. Looking overseas helped the Red Storm overcome that lag, with 4-star wing Imran Suljanovic of Austria and guards Casper Pohto (Sweden) and Fotis Konstantinidis (Greece) all hailing from across the pond. Kelvin Odih, another 4-star guard, ranks as the No. 66 player in his class according to 247Sports.

The Red Storm enter the 2025-26 season with plenty of talent and an excellent head coach, but all the turnover might give them growing pains.