St. John’s is coming off its best season in more than three decades — and determined not to slip far, if at all, for 2025-26. Rick Pitino’s program got news on Monday that could go a long way to keeping the Johnnies nationally relevant and top-25 caliber for a second straight season.
SJU has landed coveted UNC transfer Ian Jackson, sources told CBS Sports. Jackson, a shooting guard with one year of college experience, averaged 11.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per game for the 23-14 Tar Heels last season. He shot 45.6% overall, 39.5% from 3-point range and at times was a creative offensive catalyst for North Carolina. A native of the Bronx, Jackson ranked No. 8 in his high school class and was pegged as a St. John’s lean as soon as he entered the portal.
If all goes to plan, Jackson should be one of the premier scorers in the Big East. He’s the latest key piece for St. John’s as it tries to keep its position atop the conference after it went 21-2 vs. intra-league foes last season. SJU is coming off a sweep of the Big East, marking the first time St. John’s won a regular-season conference title since the 1991-92 season.
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The Red Storm have added four transfers in the past few weeks. Jackson joins former Arizona State guard Joson Sanon, who was a top-25 prospect in the class of 2024; former Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, who was All-Big East in 2022-23 but only played 17 games the past two seasons due to injuries; and Stanford wing Oziyah Sellers, a 6-5 rising senior who is a career 39.5% shooter from downtown after two seasons with USC and this past one with the Cardinal.
They’ll all join center Zuby Ejiofor (14.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg), who is poised to be one of the more consequential big men in all of college basketball next season. Critically, adding Jackson should give St. John’s a much more reliable 3-point attack. The Red Storm ranked 340th last season from beyond the arc (30.1%).
St. John’s fell in the second round of the NCAAs despite claiming a No. 2 seed, losing 75-66 to Arkansas, a game that set a record for NCAA Tournament 3-point futility. The teams shot a combined 4 for 41 from deep, the worst collective performance in a March Madness game ever. Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis entered the NBA Draft (and the portal), senior guards Kadary Richmond and Deivon Smith graduated, while sophomore wing Simeon Wilcher entered the portal last week. Even in adding Jackson to the group, Wilcher’s departure likely leads the Red Storm to add one more guard in the coming weeks, a source said.
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