Ian Jackson coming back to St. John's, but returning to his natural position as shooting guard
St. John's guard Ian Jackson shoots around Kansas forward Bryson Tiller during the second half of a game in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament on March 22, 2026, in San Diego. Credit: AP/Mark J. Terrill
In what became an excellent 2025 offseason for St. John’s, no transfer made a bigger splash than Ian Jackson when the Bronx native opted to leave North Carolina. But when Red Storm coach Rick Pitino asked the shooting guard to take on the role of point guard, it set him on the road to a disappointing season.
Jackson and Pitino have decided to give this another try without the wrinkle of changing the 6-5 sophomore’s position. On Tuesday afternoon — hours before the deadline for players to put their names into the NCAA transfer portal — Jackson made the long-awaited announcement he’s return to St. John’s in a social media post and Pitino said he will return to his natural position.
He is expected to be paired with elite British point guard Quinn Ellis, a EuroLeague pro who committed to St. John’s last week, in a starting backcourt that should rival any in the Big East.
Jackson ultimately lost the starting job to Dylan Darling and finished the season averaging 9.4 points in 18.9 minutes. He made major contributions in both of the Storm’s NCAA Tournament wins.
“I played him out of position — it’s all my fault of not coming up with a point guard,” Pitino told Newsday. “Every guy on the team just about had a great year except Ian. And it wasn't Ian, it was (because of) me. . . . I believe he's going to have a great year this season. I'm a total believer in his ability, his attitude and his work ethic.”
The Storm on Tuesday also got a commitment from Lazar Stojkovic, a 7-foot Serbian, who was being sought by Baylor and Indiana, among others. Stojkovic is the third European player joining the team for this season along with Ellis and 6-7 Montenegrin forward Djordije Jovanovic. The two commitments come less than 24 hours after 6-9 Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman picked St. John’s over Kentucky.
Jackson was pretty clear about his intent to return on April 8 when the Storm made an appearance before a Mets game at Citi Field.
“Me and Coach P are in a great spot — we have an understanding of what we both want,” Jackson said then. “Another year with Coach P. could be huge for myself and for the team.”
“He's a scorer, a great athlete in the open court, but I will say even the failures he made at point guard really helped his game overall,” Pitino said. “Although he was played out of position, he learned an awful lot and it’s really going to help him at the shooting guard spot.”
Fast breaks
The Red Storm has hosted 7-2 Moustapha Thiam of Cincinnati and has an upcoming visit with 7-1 Massamba Diop of Arizona State. Both are considered two of the top-rated centers currently in the NCAA transfer portal. . . . St. John’s will also host a guard it’s looking at this week.
With Denis P. Gorman
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
