St. John's University Athletics
St. John’s Boasts Top-Rated Incoming Class for 2025-26 Campaign
7/31/2025 2:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Red Storm men’s basketball team’s transfer class ranks No. 1 in the country according to ESPN and 247Sports
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's basketball program welcomes 11 newcomers who will join forces with returnees Zuby Ejiofor, Sadiku Ibine-Ayo, Ruben Prey and Lefteris Liotopolous as the defending BIG EAST Champion look to defend its title in 2025-26.
2024-25 National Coach of the Year Rick Pitino has assembled a seven-member transfer class that is rated No. 1 in all of Division I according to ESPN and 247Sports Transfer Portal Rankings. The versatile group features a conference player of the year, all-league selections, former five-star prospects, and a pair of McDonald's All-Americans.
Ian Jackson and Dillon Mitchell, former top-10 prosects coming out of high school, will become the first pair of McDonald's All-Americans to suit up for St. John's since Erick Barkley and Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly Ron Artest, competed together in 1998-99 when the Johnnies advanced to the Elite Eight. Jackson, a New York City native, will return home with three years of eligibility remaining after receiving ACC All-Freshman Team honors at North Carolina in 2024-25. Mitchell arrives from Cincinnati after spending the first two years of his collegiate career at Texas. Over his career, Mitchell has started 106 of 107 possible contests and ranked 10th in NCAA Division I with 66 dunks last season.
No stranger to the BIG EAST Conference, Bryce Hopkins joins the Red Storm for his final collegiate season. Hopkins spent three years at Providence from 2022-25 and averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds with the Friars. He was an All-BIG EAST First Team honoree in 2022-23. The Oak Park, Ill., native began his career at Kentucky for the 2021-22 season.
A pair of sharpshooters, Oziyah Sellers and Joson Sanon, will bolster the Red Storm's backcourt in 2025-26. Sellers arrives from Stanford after previously spending two years at USC. The Hayward, Calif., native averaged 13.7 points shooting 40.1 percent from beyond-the-arc and 89.7 percent from the charity stripe last season. Sanon is a former consensus five-star recruit who spent his freshman year at Arizona State, where he averaged 11.9 points per game.
2024-25 Big Sky Player of the Year Dylan Darling is an experienced point guard that starred at Idaho State last season after beginning his career at Washington State. The Spokane, Wash., native was one of three players in NCAA Division I to rank top-30 in points per game (19.8) and assists per game (5.7) last season. The final transfer by way of junior college, Handje Tamba, was the 2024-25 Appalachian Athletic Conference Player of the Year at Milligan. The 6-foot-11 center previously spent two seasons at Weber State and began his playing days at Tennessee.
In addition to the Red Storm's incoming transfers, St. John's added four talented freshmen, including top-60 rated recruit Kelvin Odih and three prospects from Europe in Fotis Konstantinidis (Greece), Casper Pohto (Sweden) and Imran Suljanovic (Austria).
2024-25 National Coach of the Year Rick Pitino has assembled a seven-member transfer class that is rated No. 1 in all of Division I according to ESPN and 247Sports Transfer Portal Rankings. The versatile group features a conference player of the year, all-league selections, former five-star prospects, and a pair of McDonald's All-Americans.
Ian Jackson and Dillon Mitchell, former top-10 prosects coming out of high school, will become the first pair of McDonald's All-Americans to suit up for St. John's since Erick Barkley and Metta Sandiford-Artest, formerly Ron Artest, competed together in 1998-99 when the Johnnies advanced to the Elite Eight. Jackson, a New York City native, will return home with three years of eligibility remaining after receiving ACC All-Freshman Team honors at North Carolina in 2024-25. Mitchell arrives from Cincinnati after spending the first two years of his collegiate career at Texas. Over his career, Mitchell has started 106 of 107 possible contests and ranked 10th in NCAA Division I with 66 dunks last season.
No stranger to the BIG EAST Conference, Bryce Hopkins joins the Red Storm for his final collegiate season. Hopkins spent three years at Providence from 2022-25 and averaged 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds with the Friars. He was an All-BIG EAST First Team honoree in 2022-23. The Oak Park, Ill., native began his career at Kentucky for the 2021-22 season.
A pair of sharpshooters, Oziyah Sellers and Joson Sanon, will bolster the Red Storm's backcourt in 2025-26. Sellers arrives from Stanford after previously spending two years at USC. The Hayward, Calif., native averaged 13.7 points shooting 40.1 percent from beyond-the-arc and 89.7 percent from the charity stripe last season. Sanon is a former consensus five-star recruit who spent his freshman year at Arizona State, where he averaged 11.9 points per game.
2024-25 Big Sky Player of the Year Dylan Darling is an experienced point guard that starred at Idaho State last season after beginning his career at Washington State. The Spokane, Wash., native was one of three players in NCAA Division I to rank top-30 in points per game (19.8) and assists per game (5.7) last season. The final transfer by way of junior college, Handje Tamba, was the 2024-25 Appalachian Athletic Conference Player of the Year at Milligan. The 6-foot-11 center previously spent two seasons at Weber State and began his playing days at Tennessee.
In addition to the Red Storm's incoming transfers, St. John's added four talented freshmen, including top-60 rated recruit Kelvin Odih and three prospects from Europe in Fotis Konstantinidis (Greece), Casper Pohto (Sweden) and Imran Suljanovic (Austria).
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