The St. John's men's basketball program rocketed back into national prominence last season, thanks to its best season in 40 years.

The Red Storm, however, have raised the bar even higher in 2025-26.

Expectations in Queens for more Big East regular season and tournament titles, and a deeper run in the NCAA tournament are literally through the roof, thanks to head coach Rick Pitino engineering one of the nation's top transfer recruiting classes.

The offseason work was definitely noticed, as St. John's entered the AP's preseason Top 25 ranked No. 5, its highest such ranking since starting at No. 7 in 1984-85, the last time the program reached the Final Four.

St. John's key transfers

There were many questions about how Pitino would pivot from the loss of eight players from last season's team, which finished 31-5 and ranked No. 11 in the final AP poll.

Among the key departures were top scorer and Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr., who entered the portal before declaring for the NBA Draft, shooting guard Kadary Richmond (out of eligibility), guard Aaron Scott (out of eligibility), and guard Simeon Wilcher (transferred to Texas).

Pitino, who has won two national championships and has led three different schools to a total of seven Final Fours during his legendary coaching career, got right to work and ended up pulling off what many college basketball insiders concluded is the best transfer recruiting class in the country. Several high-profile imports will work alongside top returner Zuby Ejiofor to help the Red Storm navigate what is a very ambitious pre-conference collection of games before the nightly dogfight that is the Big East schedule.

Leading the way is Bryce Hopkins, a 6-foot-7 forward who missed most of the last two seasons at Providence due to a knee injury. However, in 50 career games with the Friars, Hopkins averaged 16.1 points and was a member of the All-Big East First Team in 2022-23.

One of St. John's biggest problems last season was outside shooting. Pitino appears to have addressed that and then some with the additions of three of the nation's best available shooting guards. 

Ian Jackson, who stands 6-5 and could play some point, was the second-leading scorer for North Carolina last season as a freshman, after hitting nearly 40% of his 3-point attempts.

Joson Sanon, a 6-5 sophomore from Arizona State who can also create his own shot, converted 37% from behind the arc and averaged 12 points last season.

Oziyah Sellers, a 6-5 catch-and-shoot senior who comes over from Stanford, shot 40% from 3 and averaged 13.7 points last season.

Pitino also secured the services of 6-1 guard Dylan Darling, the 2024-25 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year for Idaho State known for his touch from deep. Darling could play his way into a featured role considering he is the only true point guard on the roster.

As for another low-post presence who can get the job done at both ends of the court, the Red Storm will turn to 6-8 forward Dillon Mitchell, who shot 60% from the floor and grabbed 6 rebounds over 107 career games for Cincinnati (last season) and Texas (2022-24).

St. John's top returning players

Ejiofor, a 6-9, 245-pound senior forward, emerged on the scene last season as a force in the paint for St. John's, averaging nearly 15 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, while shooting 58% from the field. For his efforts, he was named to the All-Big East First Team and was named a co-captain of the 2025-26 squad. Expect Ejiofor to be in the conference Player of the Year discussion as the season progresses.

Sadiku Ibine Ayo, also a team captain, is a 6-6 senior forward who brings top-end athleticism on both offense and defense and figures to play a more prominent role this season.

The Red Storm will also be looking for contributions from a pair of returning sophomores -- 6-11 center Ruben Prey and 6-4 swingman Lefteris Liotopoulos.

St. John's has a loaded 2025-26 schedule

The Red Storm overcame a slow start in its exhibition opener last Saturday before pulling away in the second half for 73-63 win over visiting Towson, the preseason favorites to win the Coastal Athletic Association.

"We were tight tonight playing in front of the home crowd. Guys were nervous," Pitino said. "No matter how experienced a team you are, the first exhibition game everybody's nervous. But we didn't panic, we stayed with our defense, stayed with our offense -- the offense got better."

Pitino called out several of his players -- both new and returning -- for not playing well, but said things will sort themselves out.

"We're going to play much better than this, but for our first game out, I was very pleased," Pitino said.

Pitino and his charges will have a better idea of what their potential is after they meet No. 7 Michigan in another exhibition game this Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

St. John's opens the regular season on Nov. 3 against Quinnipiac at Carnesecca Arena before a showdown with No. 15 Alabama at MSG on Nov. 8. The Red Storm also travel to the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas during Thanksgiving week to take on Iowa State and Baylor.

Key December games include Ole Miss on Dec. 6 at the Garden and a much-anticipated meeting with Kentucky, which Pitino led to the national championship in 1996, on Dec. 20 in Atlanta as part of the CBS Sports Classic.

For the complete schedule, with TV broadcast information, please click here.