St. John's Basketball Coach Rick Pitino Believes Players Will Be Eligible

With eligibility concerns looming, St, John's Red Storm coach Rick Pitino believes key players will be eligible.

Oct 1, 2026; New York, NY, USA; St. John's Red Storm head coach Rick Pitino speaks at 2026 Big East Media Day at Marriott Marquis. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As the start of the season gets closer for the St. John’s Red Storm, expectations are going to be high coming off two straight Big East titles. 

Since Rick Pitino has come in as the head coach for the program, things have completely changed for St. John’s. This was a program that really struggled for many years, but has turned it around the last several years. 

After missing the NCAA Tournament in his first year in somewhat controversial fashion, Pitino and the Red Storm have been able to make it each of the last two years, with last year them making the Sweet 16. 

As the offseason comes to a close, the roster for the Red Storm has the potential to be the best team that he has put together. However, there are a lot of looming eligibility concerns for the team, and that is going to be something that will have to be settled in the courts. 

With legal battles going on in courts across the country, there have been some fifth-year players and players from overseas getting wins. The Red Storm will be hoping that they get some luck in that area, and Pitino appears confident that they will. 

Eligibility Concerns Loom 

Two Rick Pitino predictions:
1. All St John’s players will be eligible
2. The Yankees will win the World Series.#sjubb

— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) October 1, 2026

When looking at some of the players who have some eligibility concerns that go along with their names, this could be a very different-looking roster in either a good way or a bad way. 

Currently, the three big names that St. John’s will be worried about are Quinn Ellis, Keyshawn Hall, and Babacar Sane. 

Ellis will be coming over from playing at high levels overseas, and the NCAA hasn’t been thrilled when it comes to players with professional experience outside of the United States. 

In terms of Sane, he will be finding out some more about his future on Monday with a scheduled hearing. Furthermore, Hall is moving his case to New York in hopes of getting a more favorable ruling than he has received so far. 

If all of these players are deemed eligible like Pitino believes, the sky is the limit for the program. Without the aforementioned players, the Red Storm already have two preseason All-Big East first-team players in Ian Jackson and Tounde Yessoufou.  

This combination has the potential to be very good together at guard and on the wing. However, getting some other players eligible could be the difference between this team being a Sweet 16 contender or a Final Four-caliber squad.