Keyshawn Hall Commits To St. John's Despite Eligibility Questions

The leading point-scorer and rebounder for the Auburn Tigers in 2025 has made his decision on where he may potentially play college basketball this upcoming season if he wins his legal battle for an extra year of eligibility.

Keyshawn Hall told Joe Tipton of On3 that he committed to St. John’s University to play under legendary head coach Rick Pitino in 2026 after being in the transfer portal since April 20, when he declared for the draft but maintained his college eligibility in case he was granted an extra year of play.

After going undrafted, Hall played in the NBA’s Summer League with the Miami Heat, where he averaged 3.5 points and 3.4 rebounds across five games.

In late July, the forward was granted an additional year of eligibility through a preliminary injunction in Ohio. This led to Hall beginning to explore his options in his return to collegiate play. However, the confusing battle for eligibility we have seen across all college sports continued.

Hall was deemed ineligible last Friday for the upcoming season after the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the NCAA a stay that was going to give the class of 2022 recruits an additional year of eligibility. Despite this, the former Tiger and his attorney are working through the “legal options in hopes of allowing him to play for the Johnnies this season,” according to Tipton.

At the time of publication, no legal decision has been made for Hall to join Rick Pitino or what his legal defense to give him an extra year will be.

In his only year on the Plains, Hall was a member of the Third Team ALL-SEC while averaging 19.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game, along with shooting nearly 38% from three. Hall helped lead the Tigers to a NIT Championship win after they missed out on the NCAA Tournament in the first year under head coach Steven Pearl.

The standout forward is familiar with navigating the transfer portal. If he plays his fifth year of college basketball, it will be with his fifth different team. Hall spent his freshman season at UNLV, where he averaged 5.4 points per game. He then took his talents to George Mason University, breaking onto the scene and averaging 16.6 a game. Prior to Auburn, he played his junior year at UCF. He earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team by averaging 18.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game.

Regardless if Hall was given eligibility or not, he was never going to return to Auburn, leading to the Tigers seemingly replacing him with Thomas Dowd from Troy who amounted to 14.4 points and 10.1 rebounds. The Tigers are expected to be led by the returning backcourt duo of Tahaad Pettiford and Kevin Overton as they look to return to March Madness.

Tipton also said that Hall was drawing interest from Kentucky, USC, Houston, SMU, Gonzaga, and several other programs before choosing St. John's.

Enjoy our content? Make AuburnOnSI a preferred source to see more stories from us on Google byclicking here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google