Roger Rubin: Tounde Yessoufou's move to St. John's a windfall for team and a boost to his career
St. John's Tounde Yessoufou shooting a fadeaway jump shot over the defense of Colgate’s Kingston McKay during the first half of a men's basketball game at Carnesecca Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
For St. John’s fans, it was the surprise of the Red Storm’s offseason reload.
It was known that St. John’s had taken an interest Tounde Yessoufou, the high-scoring freshman from Baylor, however it didn’t seem to be in the cards.
At the conclusion of the 2025-26 season after he’s set the program record for scoring by a freshman, Yessoufou had put his name in the NCAA transfer portal and also declared for the 2026 NBA Draft. And as the deadline drew close for players to withdraw from the draft and return to college, the 6-5 swingman still projected as a late first-round pick in a loaded draft class.
Then on May 27, deadline day, Yessoufou pulled a couple moves quicker than a 1-2 punch. First, he pulled his name from the draft and then he immediately announced his commitment to St. John’s.
There was no escaping that the Red Storm were bringing in a big-time scorer. In their preseason poll, Big East coaches unanimously selected him to the all-conference first team. But for anyone who has watched Yessoufou in the 13th-ranked Storm’s last two games, including Wednesday night’s 90-59 rout of Colgate at Carnesecca Arena, the kid from Benin has become so much more than the guy who averaged 17.8 points at Baylor.
He finished with 15 points, including a pair of three-pointers on five attempts, and had four rebounds and three steals in just 23 minutes against the Red Raiders. Combined with his performance on Sunday against Iona he has 38 points including six three-pointers on 14-for-24 shooting, 11 boards and six steals.
Pitino has gotten Yessoufou to embrace defending and rebounding and is crafting him into a complete player.
“He’s improved a lot,” Pitino said. “He wasn’t a great defensive player at Baylor, but he’s come a long way with his defense. He’s focused in on it. He wants to be a complete basketball player and he certainly is rounding into good form.”
“Tounde is a guy that’s got a lot of motor, a lot of energy, and he definitely brings it all on the court and helps us in all facets of the game: rebounding, defense, scoring,” Ruben Prey said. “Just a great, talented player.”
St. John’s (3-0) got contributions from all over, but Quinn Ellis again left Pitino raving over his performance. Ellis had six points, nine assists, six rebounds, four steals and no turnovers in 32 minutes. The Hall of Famer was especially moved by his long pass from the backcourt that split two defenders and hit Ian Jackson in stride for a layup before the halftime buzzer. He called it “as cerebral a basketball play as you can have.”
He’s an amazing, amazing player with an incredible IQ and guys on this team are really lucky to have him at the point guard,” Pitino added.
Jackson had 17 points including nine in an 11-0 run to close the first half with a 49-32 lead. Keyshawn Hall had 17 points, Lefteris Liotopoulos had 13 points including three three-pointers and Prey had 11 points and eight rebounds. Zsombor Maronka had the second-best pass of the game, going behind his back to Liotopoulos for a corner three.
Pitino has emphasized to Yessoufou, as well as Hall, who also arrived with a scorer’s rep, that playing defense is essential for both the team and their individual goals.
“[They] embraced it because they haven’t been known as that and I said to them ‘what’s going to move you up in the draft is not your offense. Everybody knows you [score]. It’s going to be your defense. So . . . become a great defensive player.”
He gave Phoenix Suns swingman Dillon Brooks as an example. Pitino explained ‘I told them ‘There’s a reason he’s in the league. It’s not because he scores a lot of points. He plays great defense. He’s tough. He’s hard-nosed.’”
“I love when a coach just shoots straight, things I need to work on and things I need to get better at,” Yessoufou said Sunday. “The main thing was the team needs my aggressiveness. And in order for me to play well on offense, it has to start with defense. . . . and make sure I’m a lockdown defensive player.”
If Yessoufou continues to add new aspects to his scoring it will not only pay dividends for the Storm, it will make him much more attractive to NBA teams should he enter the draft at the end of the season. He won’t be considered a late-first rounder. He might be considered a lottery pick.
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.
