Potential 1st-rounder flips from NBA Draft to St. John’s basketball

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The NBA Draft pool is being finalized, as some of the biggest names in college basketball make their final choices about whether to go pro or whether to come back to school. Late on Wednesday night, a big surprise came that benefitted Rick Pitino and St. John’s basketball.

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Tounde Yessoufou, who was a five-star recruit coming out of high school in the class of 2025, is turning down the NBA Draft and going back to college, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. Yessoufou is also in the transfer portal and will be going to St. John’s next season.

“Baylor’s Tounde Yessoufou — a potential first-round pick — has withdrawn from the 2026 NBA draft and committed to St. John’s Red Storm men’s basketball program to play for Rick Pitino, his agency THE TEAM tells ESPN,” Charania reported on X, formerly Twitter.

Yessoufou was a part of a Baylor team that had a number of future NBA players, but had a very disappointing season that resulted in it missing out on the NCAA Tournament. However, he was not near the top of the reasons why. In 34 games, Yessoufou averaged 17.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and two steals per game, showcasing his ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor.

Yessoufou was a borderline first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, but he is now returning to school to hone his skillset and try to improve his stock for the 2027 draft. In the process, he will have a chance to compete for a national title with a St. John’s team that should be one of the best in the nation.

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The five-star transfer has a very intriguing skillset that includes tons of positional versatility, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He is a good rebounder and a solid scorer on the interior, especially when he can create scoring chances for himself with his energy and activity.

Yessoufou could use some…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/potential-1st-rounder-flips-nba-052806628.html

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Publish date : 2026-05-28 05:28:00

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