One Bold Prediction for St. John's Basketball in Season-Opener vs. Monmouth

Here is one bold prediction for the season-opener for St. John's Basketball.

Oct 25, 2026; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Tounde Yessoufou (24) takes a three point shot in the second half against the Texas Longhorns at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The St. John’s Red Storm are getting set for their season-opener against Monmouth University. St. John’s will be expected to win this game by a comfortable margin, but they could really look to make a statement in this one. 

Following going a perfect 3-0 in exhibition play, including a four-overtime win against Rutgers followed by an impressive win against the Texas Longhorns. 

With it being so early in the season, head coach Rick Pitino is still trying to develop and grow this team. It was a fairly short offseason for the Red Storm with a lot of players in eligibility limbo. However, things have worked out well for St. John’s in that area, and this is a loaded roster. 

While the Red Storm will be looking to accomplish some great things this year, that all starts on Monday night against Monmouth. This should be a game that they are able to win easily, but anything can happen early in the season. 

Here is one bold prediction for the season-opener for St. John’s on Monday night. 

St. John’s Will Score 100 Points in the Opener

Oct 25, 2026; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm guard Quinn Ellis (4) at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While this team has yet to take shape so far, it is pretty clear early on that they have a lot of scorers and are going to play at a fast pace. Having a great point guard in Quinn Ellis is going to make things much different for St. John’s this year, and he will be a key player for the team. 

Even though Ellis isn’t going to be one of the top scorers for the team, he will be setting up their talented players. When looking at the roster for St. John’s, the top three scorers for the team in no particular order will be Tounde Yessoufou, Ian Jackson, and Keyshawn Hall. 

All three of these players are capable of scoring 20 points a night, and against Monmouth, all three might. 

The pace in this game will certainly be something to watch. St. John’s should be looking to get up the court and go against Monmouth and use their athleticism, especially on the wing, to make this an easy win. 

While Pitino teams are usually known for their defense, this team early on is going to be an offensive-minded group to start. If they are going to reach their potential, the defensive end will have to be improved, but to start, look for this team to put the ball in the basket.  If the pace is fast, St. John’s can score 100 points on Monday night.