Prized transfer Bryce Hopkins came to St. John's to learn from Rick Pitino
Bryce Hopkins during a St. John's men's basketball practice on Aug. 5 in Queens. Credit: Dawn McCormick
While there’s been plenty of anticipation about St. John’s and several of the new players who made up coach Rick Pitino’s transfer class — rated No. 1 in the nation by 247sports.com — perhaps no one has been more intriguing than Bryce Hopkins.
Hopkins was an all-Big East first-teamer for Providence in 2023 and played only 17 games for the Friars in the two seasons after that because of knee injuries.
It was a battle in the transfer portal, mostly between St. John’s and Georgetown — now coached by Ed Cooley, Hopkins’ former coach with Providence — in which the Red Storm prevailed. He was the first of the transfers in the door, making St. John’s even more attractive to those who followed.
That scrutiny of his play grew when Pitino announced that he would not start in the first exhibition game last weekend. He responded with 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals in the win over Towson.
Pitino said he made the move because he wanted the 6-7 forward striving for “greatness” because “I want him to be one of the best players in the country.”
As the fifth-ranked Red Storm entered Saturday night’s high-profile exhibition against No. 7 Michigan at the Garden, there were no indications that Hopkins will not be able to fulfill his coach’s expectations. Pitino even said he would return to the starting lineup.
At Big East media day on Tuesday, he was announced as a preseason all-conference first-teamer, based on voting by conference coaches.
When Cooley was asked about losing out on Hopkins at the NBA Draft, he replied, “That one hurt.”
But at media day, he sounded as if he understood why the player he brought to Providence after one season at Kentucky had gone to St. John’s.
“It’s recruitment. It’s the portal,” Cooley said. “I think he chose where he could go develop and be the best player he can be, and I thought he chose a coach that’s going to push him to be the best player he can be.’’
He added: “Bryce is a really good player. We were really fortunate to take him from Kentucky and come into Providence. And to go into St. John’s? I think he’s going to be one of the better players in the country.”
Hopkins’ decision to play for Pitino, who built a Hall of Fame career by taking players who might not have been the elites coming out of high school and molded them into championship teams and NBA players, was a reasonable choice in Cooley’s eyes.
“He’s playing for arguably the best college coach in the history of college basketball in Rick Pitino,” Cooley said. “He’s an incredible motivator . . . [and Hopkins] chose where he could go develop and be the best player he can be.”
Providence coach Kim English, who lost Hopkins, simply said, “Players in college have the right to transfer.”
At a Manhattan appearance with St. John’s during the summer, Hopkins said: “I’m pretty much just looking at [this move] as Coach Pitino and playing for a legend in the college era.
“I’m just looking for him to help me get to that next level, and that’s pretty much how I was looking at it when I transferred here.
“I know I have a lot of stuff to learn from him and he can give me some stuff to get to that next level.”
In the Towson game, Hopkins didn’t look any the worse for all the time he missed during the previous two seasons. He said he feels 100% healthy, and it was hard to argue from his performance.
Pitino said he’s still rounding into playing condition.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the court and actually been playing,” Hopkins said after that game. “To get back out there and be fully healthy, 100% healthy, it just meant a lot.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
