St. John's Coach Rick Pitino Gets Big Transfer Portal News

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Rodney Knuppel | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 11:37 AM ET

Rick Pitino put the St. John's Red Storm back on the college basketball map during the 2024-2025 season.

The Red Storm won the Big East regular-season and conference tournament title and entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West Region.

St John's ultimately suffered a loss to Arkansas in the second round, but were able to earn a first-round victory over Omaha.

After the NCAA Tournament loss, Pitino got great news out of the transfer portal, a place the Red Storm head coach expects to stay very active in an attempt to beef up his 2025-2026 squad.

According to Jon Rothstein, former five-star recruit Ian Jackson will visit campus this weekend.

Sources: North Carolina transfer Ian Jackson will visit St. John’s on Sunday and Monday.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 10, 2025

Jackson is familiar with the campus and the community, as he grew up in the Bronx.

He played his High School basketball at Our Saviour Lutheran in the Bronx. His high school career was fantastic, as he was the Sophomore of the Year, according to MaxPreps.

During his freshman season at North Carolina, he was named to the ACC All-Freshman team.

The Tar Heels' guard chose Hubert Davis over other offers from Kentucky, Arkansas, LSU, and Oregon when committing out of high school.

Pitino has already secured commitments from Joson Sanon, out of Arizona State, and Bryce Hopkins from Providence in this year's transfer portal class.

The Red Storm are also in on Georgia's Silas Demary Jr. and Tre White from Illinois.

St. John's will look to replace the loss of RJ Luis Jr, who entered the transfer portal. The portal opened on March 24 and will close at midnight on April 21.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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