St. John's coach Rick Pitino gives Ian Jackson his shot at point guard
St. John's guard Ian Jackson sets before shooting a three-pointer against the Ole Miss Rebels at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 6. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino has decided to install Ian Jackson as the 22nd-ranked Red Storm’s starting point guard for Saturday’s noon game against Iona at the Garden, and this has the feel of a deep-end-of-the-pool moment.
When the Bronx native committed to transfer from North Carolina, Pitino suggested that the ultra-talented sophomore would become St. John’s next great point guard. However, Jackson really hasn’t been given the opportunity to sink or swim in the position until now. Oziyah Sellers was the starting point guard in the first two games and Dylan Darling had that role in the next six.
Now Pitino is giving Jackson the keys to the car.
“Ian Jackson has improved immensely since he's been here . . . He's starting for the Iona game because of the improvement he has made, but it takes time,” Pitino said Thursday.
He likened that improvement to the strides Daniss Jenkins made during his two seasons with the Hall of Fame coach at Iona and St. John’s.
“[Jenkins] had very little point guard skills in terms of his first development into [one] . . . and it took a good three or four months from the summer onward before he learned really how to play the game the right way,” Pitino said. “And it's taken Ian three or four months now to get to this point where defense matters. Where he was averaging five or six turnovers every practice — which is unheard of — and now he's one or two max. So he's come a long way.”
How far Jackson actually has come remains to be seen, but for this team to realize every bit of its enormous potential — potential that earned St. John's a No. 5 ranking in the country at the start of the season — Jackson probably needs to be the point guard.
And this is the right time for the move. St. John’s (5-3) has more than a week and two games — this one against the Gaels (8-3) and Tuesday’s Big East opener against DePaul at Carnesecca Arena — before its last opportunity to finally get a high-profile non-conference win in the Dec. 20 matchup with Kentucky in Atlanta.
This is no knock against Darling. The redshirt junior, who transferred from Idaho State after earning the 2025 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year award, has done nothing wrong and is going to be very much needed. He’s been at the point when the Red Storm have played their best offense. He made big plays late in the win over Ole Miss last weekend at the Garden, and when the Red Storm suffered their three losses, all to nationally ranked opponents, Darling wasn’t on the floor. A calf strain sidelined him against No. 12 Alabama, he fouled out in a one-possession game with 5:12 left against No. 4 Iowa State and he was limited to seven minutes by injury against No. 21 Auburn.
The reality is that for all his hustle and court vision, the 6-1 Darling could not match the size, speed and athleticism of the guards on any of the three squads that beat the Red Storm. The 6-5 Jackson, however, can match or surpass them on all fronts.
Though he didn’t get great results, Jackson played his most confident game when St. John’s beat Ole Miss following nine days of practice after going 1-2 at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. He shot 2-for-11 but was fearless going to the basket and putting up three-point shots, and he played 19 minutes without a turnover.
“I feel like I’m getting more comfortable as the days go on — it starts in practice, preparing there, and then the games,” said Jackson, who is averaging 11.4 points in 18 minutes. “Against Ole Miss, I felt way more comfortable than I did in prior games. Shots didn’t fall, but that’s part of the game.”
Of starting at point guard, he added, “It means a lot.”
“Ian was always a great player — his one-on-one bag has a lot in it,” Bryce Hopkins said. “Where I’ve seen him grow the most is in his playmaking ability. The game slowed down for him as the season went on and . . . he’s making his reads better as a point guard.”
We’ve mentioned it in this space before: Fair or not, the return of a New York sports prodigy such as Jackson to his hometown team is going to hold everyone’s attention. Thus far, not all of that attention has been good.
Pitino said Jackson is built to handle the spotlight and scrutiny but added, “It's very difficult for a New Yorker to play in New York . . . I've seen many New Yorkers on the Jets, the Giants, the Mets and the Yankees ruined because of being over-scrutinized.
“Ian’s turnovers have come way down, his rebounding has gone way up, and his defense has gotten significantly better . . . I just think being a New Yorker, you get over-scrutinized [and] it takes time to develop into a complete basketball player. When this season’s over, he will be a complete basketball player ready to move on to whatever pastures he wants to get to.”
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.
