Forget the exhibition games. St. John's Ian Jackson will be everything the Red Storm is hoping for.
Ian Jackson of the St. John's Red Storm shoots the ball against Michigan during the first half at Madison Square Garden on October 25, 2025. Credit: Getty Images/Ishika Samant
Ian Jackson is an elite talent and superlative basketball player. We haven’t really glimpsed that yet in St. John’s exhibition games against Towson and No. 7 Michigan, but the message here is that there’s no cause for alarm.
Count on Jackson to give those who follow the fifth-ranked Red Storm plenty of breathtaking moments and highlights to remember.
The 6-5 guard even issued something like an assurance to them on Monday night when the Storm did a public appearance at the Applebee’s restaurant in Fresh Meadows. “In the two exhibitions, I got away from being who I am," Jackson said. "Ian Jackson will be Ian Jackson, and that’s who I’m going to be for the rest of the season.”
“It’s a confidence thing, you know?” he explained. “Whatever [the] reason, I didn’t [rise] to the occasion. I felt I played a little bit timid. I was just out there, I [didn’t] impact the games as much as I wanted to. It just wasn’t me.”
It could be argued that’s completely understandable. It’s always a big deal when a sports prodigy from New York returns to don the uniform of the hometown team and take a starring role. So it was no surprise that when Jackson opted to leave North Carolina for St. John’s and coach Rick Pitino, it stirred excitement. All eyes were going to be on the heralded player from Cardinal Hayes High in the Bronx with the NBA destiny.
It's a weighty proposition for any college sophomore, likely even heavier when Pitino christened his commitment by anointing him the successor to starting point guards Daniss Jenkins and Kadary Richmond. Some of that had to come off two weeks ago when the Hall of Fame coach said Oziyah Sellers would begin as St. John’s starting point guard.
Still performing in New York under that sort of attention and expectation can take an athlete into an unfamiliar place. Jackson even said that when he watched himself on film, “it was totally foreign.”
Red Storm co-captain Sadiku Ibine Ayo has grown quite close with Jackson and likens what’s going on here to the underwhelming start Richmond had before he came on to become one of St. John’s stars last season.
“It’s the same: a New York kid, coming back to New York and just trying to do good,” Ibine Ayo said. “It’s going to take time, It’s human nature, everyone is trying to do good as soon as it starts. I preached to Kadary last year. Just keep going, just show up every day and everything is going to be fine.”
He added that he took Jackson aside Sunday morning after the Storm’s 96-94 overtime loss to Michigan at the Garden. “I told him the same thing: just stay the course . . . It’s going to happen.”
None of the players know Pitino like Ibine Ayo, who followed him to St. John’s after a season at Iona. He’s seen how players can take it when the coach thinks they’re not playing to their potential.
“I think all of the guys are trying to be perfect . . . It's not only him, it’s human nature,” Ibine Ayo said. “Sometimes we're trying to do everything right, but we can't do everything right. I was trying to tell the guys [when] you go make mistake, just [don’t] worry about a mistake. It's what you do after the mistake.”
Pitino said Saturday that Jackson needs to cut down on turnovers, but was adamant when he added, “He'll play much better than he played tonight. I've got confidence in him.”
In the two exhibition games combined, Jackson was 3-for-14 shooting for eight points with two assists and three turnovers. But teammates say that in practices, they see the confident player who averaged 11.9 points and shot 39.5% on threes for the Tar Heels.
“He's not as aggressive as he usually is in practice. . . . where he's just playing freely,” co-captain Zuby Ejiofor said. “He's better off just playing freely, not thinking about making any subtle mistakes and playing the game he knows he's capable of playing.”
“It's a long season and we just started,” Ibine Ayo said. “I’ll tell you, he’s going to be good. He should not worry.”
As St. John’s Nov. 3 regular-season opener against Quinnipiac approaches, it sounds like all the words of encouragement are landing right.
“ I'm still me, absolutely. I'm still me,” Jackson said. “I’m going to be myself and it’s going to help our team tremendously.”
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.
