Dynamic Duo Could Provide Major Scoring Jolt for St. John's Basketball

Which two players for the St. John's Red Storm will provide the school with a scoring jolt?

Mar 27, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino reacts in the first half during a Sweet Sixteen game of the East Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With practice underway for the St. John’s Red Storm, their season will be starting up soon, and expectations are high. 

The Rick Pitino era has certainly lived up to the hype so far for St. John’s over the last three years. After so many seasons of struggles, the Red Storm are relevant once again and have been one of the best teams in the Big East since he came to the program. 

Winning two Big East titles in a row is a great accomplishment, but Pitino and the program are now hungry for more. Last season, the school reached the Sweet 16, but ultimately came up just short against a very good Duke team. 

Now, the offseason was once again a busy one for Pitino. St. John’s has added a lot of talent, and the team will be hoping to take another step forward. There is reason to believe that they are going to be able to achieve this, but there will be a lot of work that has to go into it as well. 

While there are plenty of questions about who will be eligible, the team does know that they will have Ian Jackson and Tounde Yessoufou. This combination on the wing is going to be fun to watch and should score quite a bit.  

Jackson and Yessoufou Will Score Plenty

Mar 7, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears guard Tounde Yessoufou (24) shoots a free throw during the second half at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While Jackson will be returning for the Red Storm for a second year, this will be the first season with the program for Yessoufou. The talented wing player was an impact guy for the Baylor Bears, and he could be one of the best players in the conference this year. 

Last season, he totaled 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. With those being his stats as a freshman, he has the chance to take his game to the next level in year two. 

For Jackson, he will be looking to have a bounce-back campaign and perform better than he did in his first season with the program. Hopefully, point guard Quinn Ellis will be eligible, and this will allow both Jackson and Yessoufou to play off the ball. 

Both are very good players on the wing and have the potential to score a lot of points. Yessoufou projects to be a player that could come close to, if not exceed, 20 points per night. For Jackson, he could easily be a 15-point per game player. 

While Pitino will be demanding the team perform well on the defensive end like always, these two can provide a major jolt in the scoring department.