St. John's Basketball Has Top Incoming International Player This Season

The St. John's Red Storm have the best incoming international player at a key position.

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

The start of the regular season is right around the corner for the St. John’s Red Storm and they will be playing just one more exhibition game before things kick off for real. 

Coming into the 2026-27 campaign, the Red Storm are projected to be one of the top teams not only in the Big East, but the entire country. St. John’s will be getting set to try and three-peat as conference champions and their roster is shaping up to be one of the most talented groups in the Rick Pitino era. 

The Red Storm still have plenty of work to do after just two exhibition games, but when it’s all said and done, they have the ceiling to be a Final Four team. One of the main reasons why the ceiling for the team is going to be high is because of some of the good news that they have received eligibility wise. With some high-end talent expected to play, the sky is the limit for St. John’s. 

Evan Miyakawa recently released the top international prospects projected to make an impact this season. For St. John’s it was their point guard Quinn Ellis who made the list in the top spot. 

Big Year Coming for Ellis

The top projected international recruits in college basketball this year, according to https://t.co/Zc0pvHmgWD.

Quinn Ellis at St. John's is predicted to have the highest impact of any international prospect this season 👇 pic.twitter.com/v5zy8Eaeh9

— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) October 21, 2026

While it has only been two exhibition games so far, there is already a lot to like about the new point guard for the Red Storm. After being deemed eligible, St. John’s has a really talented player in Ellis with a lot of experience playing overseas. 

So far, he has shown the ability to be a true floor general and on a team that has a lot of talent around him, that is going to be key. The Red Storm feature a lot of good offensive weapons led by Tounde Yessoufou, Ian Jackson, Keyshawn Hall, and Babacar Sane. 

Since there is only one basketball on the court at a time, having a true point guard in Ellis to spread the ball around will be key. Some nights there will surely be moments for one of the top scorers to take over if the matchup is more favorable than another, and it will be Ellis’ job to do his best to keep everyone involved. 

The next two players behind Ellis in the rankings are Sailou Niang, who is on the LSU Tigers and Juan Fernandez on South Carolina. 

St. John’s is hoping to be one of the top teams in the country and Ellis is going to be playing a major role in that.