St. John’s Basketball Has One Major Strength To Lean on in Season

The St. John’s Red Storm played their first game of the season, hosting the Drexel Dragons at Carnesecca Arena in their first exhibition game of the year.

Head coach Rick Pitino had his entire roster available to him, a major development for the Red Storm to have everyone eligible for the time being. The only player who didn’t participate in the game was Kyle Cuffe Jr., who wasn’t present at warmups and was battling some sort of ailment.

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There were a lot of takeaways from the performance, a game that St. John’s won 81-52. The biggest was that the Red Storm are going to have a massive advantage at the forward spots, likely any time they take the court.

At small forward, St. John’s has the dynamic Tounde Yessoufou. A five-star transfer from the Baylor Bears, Yessoufou tested the NBA draft waters but withdrew and decided to return to college basketball for the 2026-27 season.

St. John’s is loaded at the forward spots

His addition was a major one for the Red Storm after he averaged 17.8 points per game as a freshman. If he can improve his 3-point shooting, he went 1-for-5 against Drexel, he is going to be unstoppable on offense with his ability to get to the rim and score inside the arc with explosive athleticism.

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Joining him in the starting five for the exhibition game was Babacar Sane, who was named a team captain along with Ian Jackson. An international player who is currently eligible because of a temporary restraining order with a hearing set for Nov. 9, Sane was dominant on both ends of the floor.

He scored a game-high 17 points, knocking down three 3-pointers. His three-level scoring was on full display as he shot 5-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from the foul line. Listed at 6-foot-7, he made his presence felt on the glass, pulling down a game-high eight rebounds, including two on the offensive end.

Sane rounded out his stat line with two assists, one steal and one block for an excellent two-way performance.

As if those two aren’t enough to deal…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/st-johns-basketball-one-major-100006768.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-16 10:00:00

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