Eligibility Limbo of Quinn Ellis Will Be Key for St. John's Basketball

The St. John's Red Storm will need the talented Quinn Ellis to be eligible this season.

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

The St. John’s Red Storm are getting set for the upcoming season, but the program has many questions surrounding what the team could look like next season. 

Coming off a Sweet 16 appearance, a Big East title, and another season in which they reached the 30-win plateau, the Red Storm are certainly back. It was a goal of Rick Pitino to bring this program back to their glory days and after three years with the team so far, that is starting to become true. 

Pitino has had a lot of success in a short amount of time with the program, and he will be looking for more. Heading into his fourth year, this team could arguably be the most talented that he has had. The goal to reach an Elite 8 or Final Four is certainly realistic, but there are some concerns as well. 

The Red Storm once again relied heavily on the transfer portal to bring in talent this offseason. Unfortunately, it’s hard to predict whether or not some of their players will be able to play. 

Myron Medcalf of ESPN recently wrote about St. John’s guard Quinn Ellis being one of the most important players who could be impacted by all of the uncertainty surrounding eligibility heading into the season. 

Losing Ellis Would Be Major Blow

Mar 26, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino speaks with the media during a press conference ahead of the east regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Even though Ellis has yet to play college basketball, he has played at some high levels overseas, and it isn’t just players seeking a fifth year of eligibility or ones that have signed with professional teams here that are under the microscope. 

Last season, one of the major problems for St. John’s was their guard play. Ian Jackson was asked to play point guard, and it was a role that he simply wasn’t able to do at a high enough level and impacted what he can do on the basketball court. 

Adding Ellis this year figured to solve that problem for St. John’s, but the team is likely concerned now about whether or not he will be eligible for the season. The talented guard is able to do a little bit of everything well and has some excellent size for the position as well. 

If Ellis is able to play, he could be a fantastic player right off the bat for St. John’s with all of the experience overseas. However, nothing seems certain right now concerning a lot of players’ eligibility, and unfortunately Ellis falls into that category.