The St. John’s basketball program added another Iona transfer to its roster.
It’s very clear that Rick Pitino is going to change the culture within the St. John’s basketball program and he is doing that with players he has significant trust in.
Pitino and the Johnnies landed a surprise transfer on Monday night from Iona transfer Sadiku Ibine Ayo.
“Thank you Coach Pitino for this opportunity,” Ayo wrote on Twitter.
The 6-foot-7 wing appeared in 25 games for the Gaels during his freshmen season, starting four contests, and averaged 2.6 points and 1.5 rebounds per contest while shooting 38.5-percent from the field and 33.3-percent from 3-point range.
https://twitter.com/ayo_sadiku/status/1655761039332450305
“Sadiku Ibine Ayo can play multiple positions, he’s an outstanding athlete, and he’s one of the finest young men I have met in my 40-plus years in coaching,” Rick Pitino said in a statement released by the program.
“He is a hard worker who brings it every day with a great attitude. We are so excited to have him.”
ALSO READ: St. John’s lands first high school prospect of Rick Pitino era
A local standout during high school at Our Savior Lutheran (NY), Ayo had offers from Nebraska, Seton Hall, and St. John’s before landing at Iona.
Sadiku Ibine Ayo joins Daniss Jenkins, Cruz Davis, and Quinn Slazinski to join their head coach in making the move from New Rochelle to Queens this offseason.
St. John’s basketball roster nearly complete amid transformation
St. John’s has also added MI’s Sean Conway, UConn’s Nahiem Alleyne, Oregon State’s Glenn Taylor Jr., and UMass’ RJ Luis in the transfer portal.
Pitino also landed a commitment from 4-star wing Brady Dunlap as the only high school prospect to join the Johnnies this offseason.
ALSO READ: St. John’s adds another potent wing in UMass transfer RJ Luis
The program still has two open scholarships as it looks for another lead guard that can score the ball exceptionally well, like UPenn’s Jordan Dingle, and a backup center to Joel Soriano after Mohamed Keita surprisingly entered the transfer portal on Friday.
St. John’s will host Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor this weekend and is still hoping to set up a visit with Kentucky transfer Lance Ware.