St. John's men's basketball roster: Get to know this year's team

THE GUARDS

Fotis Konstantinidis, No. 2

The 6-2 sophomore is one of five returning players from the 2025-26 team. As a freshman, he appeared in just seven games and took only one shot — and made it — in eight minutes. Right now he is envisioned as backcourt depth, but he has some sophistication about the European concepts coach Rick Pitino likes.

This is the deepest Red Storm team in the four seasons Pitino has been here. So it’s difficult to predict how much floor time he will get. But Storm fans seem to grow attached to the “program guys,” and Pitino appreciates loyalty.

Avery Brown, No. 3

Brown, a 6-4 grad transfer from Columbia, is one of several contenders to be the backup point guard.  In a video that he recorded after the Storm lost to Duke in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season, Pitino said one priority was getting guards who have size, strength and maturity. Brown checks those boxes.

He was limited in the preseason by an ankle injury, but he did perform well against top competition with the Lions. He had 18 points against Villanova in a 2024-25 game, when he started all 27 contests and averaged 11.2 points and 2.8 assists. He played in just three games last year after suffering facial fractures while playing UConn.

Quinn Ellis, No. 4

Ellis, who played last season in the Euro League, will be the starting point guard and might be the Red Storm’s most important player. The British export is elite, and is on the watch list for the Bob Cousy Award as the best point guard in the country. He can control a game without scoring and Pitino has praised him as the “only member of this basketball team that understands what team is all about.” He is poised, has great court vision, defends well and is an on-court leader.

St. John’s has a lot of scoring options and Ellis is capable of orchestrating and deploying all of them at the right time. Stats from exhibition games can be taken with a grain of salt, but in the four-OT win over Rutgers and domination of No. 7 Texas, he played a combined 90 minutes and had 16 assists and only one turnover.

Kyle Cuffe Jr., No. 5

The 6-1 point guard and transfer from Mercer might be in the mix to back up Ellis and has a good chance to become a fan favorite because his dad played for St. John’s 2002 NCAA Tournament team. His game was good enough in high school for him to be recruited to Kansas (where he roomed with former St. John’s star Zuby Ejiofor) and then also came off the bench two seasons at Syracuse. Cuffe has played in 92 college games and his experience is valued.

Casper Pohto, No. 6

He was the last addition to the roster before last season, but Pohto has game and looked like the leader to back up Ellis in the final dress rehearsal for the Storm when they beat No. 7 Texas. The 6-3 sophomore is fully recovered from last December’s hip surgery. Playing for Sweden in the FIBA under-18 Eurobasket, Pohto averaged 13.6 points and 6.0 rebounds.

Ian Jackson, No. 11

Miscast as a point guard much of last season after transferring in from North Carolina, the highly-sought Bronx product shook off some struggles and excelled late against the Red Storm’s toughest competition. Pitino has been effusive with praise for him, his teammates elected him a co-captain and he was voted by Big East coaches to the preseason all-conference first team.

Jackson averaged 9.4 points and should be poised for a breakout season and, if the Texas exhibition was a decent indicator, his defensive acumen is improved and his offensive aggression is impressive. He’s capable of being the conference Player of the Year and also, because of the hype, a disappointment.

Lefteris Liotopoulos, No. 31

St. John’s fans badly want the 6-4 third-year shooting guard from Greece to be a success. Clearly a fan favorite, few substitutions get cheers at the Garden like when “Lefty” enters a game. Pitino said he is one of the team’s best perimeter shooters in practice but, in games, it shows up inconsistently.

Liotopoulos explored transferring after last season before deciding to return. He’s been one of their best players in some Big East games and a liability in others. He really understands Pitino’s concepts and keeps improving on defense. With this deeper collection of guards, he has to prove himself for minutes.

THE FORWARDS

Babacar Sane, No. 0

Because of the raw talent he possesses, Sane could have the highest ceiling of anyone on the Red Storm roster. The 6-7 Senegalese product, who played professionally in Germany last season, is exceptional in transition and can score in a set from anywhere on the court. However, he isn’t strong on fundamentals and discipline and needs to climb that learning curve fast for Pitino to entrust him with minutes.

He is popular with his teammates, who elected him a co-captain. For all his considerable abilities, Sane — who played in the G League and signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Utah Jazz (but was never part of a team activity) — right now is only eligible until a Nov. 9 court hearing in his suit against the NCAA.

Donnie Freeman, No. 1 

The 6-10 Syracuse transfer was a big splash for St. John’s when it landed his commitment without a visit and after going on campus at Kentucky. If the junior were healthy, he would be challenging to be a starter or the sixth man, but he is now expected to miss the entire season after a ruptured Achilles injury and surgery to repair it.

Freeman does have a history of lower leg injuries, and at Syracuse was limited by them to 14 games as a freshman and 23 as a sophomore. He averaged 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds last season with the Orange.

Keyshawn Hall, No. 7

On a team loaded with potential scorers, Hall might be the very best of them. The 6-7 grad transfer from Auburn was fifth in the Southeastern Conference in scoring with a 19.3-point average to go with 7.1 rebounds. In the Storm’s last exhibition against No. 7 Texas, he had 24 points and drew eight fouls, going 8-for-9 on free throws.

Afterward Pitino said, “He's a bucket-getter. He's one of the best one-on-one players I've coached . . . He’s highly intelligent.”

Hall is at his fifth school in five seasons after winning a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit against the NCAA to play this season. There is no timeline for a decision, but the NCAA is expected to appeal if it loses.

Zsombor Maronka, No. 8

The 6-10 Maronka has a solid chance of ending up in the Red Storm rotation because he is a strong shooter — he made 37% on three-point attempts with Hamburg Towers last season overseas — and a crisp passer.

Pitino has favored bringing in older players and the 23-year-old is mature and knows the game after several years playing professionally in Europe. He won’t be the first forward off the bench, but if he proves himself a strong three-point shooter, Pitino will find him minutes.

Tounde Yessoufou, No. 24

Had he not pulled his name from the NBA Draft, Yessoufou would probably have been a late first-round pick. He did it at the 11th hour and immediately committed to transfer from Baylor to St. John’s. Given the expected weaker draft class coming out in the spring, he could now — with an excellent season — be a lottery pick. Last season he set a scoring record for Baylor freshmen with 17.8 points per game. He also is a tenacious defender — something Pitino loves — who averaged 2.0 steals.

He was unanimously voted by Big East coaches to the preseason all-conference first team. If Yessoufou ended up being the Red Storm’s top performer, it wouldn’t be a surprise.

THE BIGS

Reed Bailey, No. 13

Bailey first played at Davidson and was an all-Atlantic 10 player there before transferring to Indiana. He now arrives at St. John’s as possibly the first big man off the bench. He understands the game, can pass well and might be a rebounding solution for the Red Storm. When starting center Ruben Prey got into foul trouble, Bailey was the first option.

Last season for the Hoosiers, he shot 57% from the floor. In his last season at Davidson, he averaged 18.8 points and 6.1 rebounds. Bailey, as well as dozens of others from the High School class of 2025 in an array of sports, is currently eligible via a ruling in a suit against the NCAA in a California court. The NCAA is expected to appeal.

Ruben Prey, No. 17

Prey is no stranger to Red Storm fans as he begins his third season under Pitino. He has been anointed to begin the season as the starting center and must fulfill the role in a different way than Zuby Ejiofor (now with the Atlanta Hawks). Prey could be positioned for a breakout season after he made all five of his three-point attempts over St. John’s last two NCAA Tournament games.

Prey makes shots and has good moves around the basket, even though he’d probably be a better fit as a “stretch-four.” He is one of St. John’s toughest defenders against the ball. But he may not have filled out and gained the strength to rebound and end a defensive possession.

Theo Edema, No. 23

The 6-11, 255-pound freshman with a build for contact opted to skip what could have been his senior year in high school and chose to commit to the Red Storm. Pitino played him short bursts against No. 7 Texas in St. John’s final exhibition game and he was impressive with seven rebounds, including four on the offense glass. His hands were quick on defense though not entirely self-assured. He could be the X-factor because he is not only physically capable but also motivated as a rebounder.

Pitino tends to lean into older players, but Edema was one of the great surprises in the final exhibition game. The Red Storm was the toughest team in the Big East largely because of Zuby Ejiofor. Edema is young but physically capable of being that sort of presence.

Lazar Stojkovic, No. 30

The 18-year-old Serbian import, who played professionally overseas, has to be considered a project at this point. Like many of the European players Pitino has recruited successfully, he has been an outside shooting threat. But he is rail thin and it remains to be seen if he is up to the rigors of playing in the interior in the Big East.

Pitino circulated a video after St. John’s lost to Duke in the Sweet 16, in which he communicated that size was at a premium. Stojkovic, at 7-1, has that and has a rep as a shot-blocker. But he needs to do many other things to get minutes on this deep team.