Rick Pitino wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice and after adding British point guard Quinn Ellis to the St. John’s basketball roster earlier in the offseason, he went back to the transfer portal to build depth at the position for the Red Storm.
Columbia guard Avery Brown committed to the Johnnies last week, solidifying its backcourt.
Brown was limited to only three games this season after suffering a facial fracture in a game against UConn in November and receiving a medical redshirt for another year of eligibility. As a junior, he played 27 games and averaged 11.1 points and 2.8 assists per game.
“We needed someone in the backcourt that has had great experience, we wanted an older player, a veteran, that could help lead our new group and Avery brings that to our basketball team,” Rick Pitino said in a statement.
“He is a Columbia graduate, he has a great personality, he’s physically tough at 6-foot-4 and we’re super excited to have him.”
In his breakout junior season, he scored 18 points on the road in an upset win over Villanova, shooting 5-for-7 from the floor. As a freshman he posted 9.7 points per game and 9.9 points as a sophomore.
For his career, he’s just a 27.9-percent shooter from 3-point range and 37.6-percent from the field.
Brown picked St. John’s over Boston College, BYU, Georgetown, and others.
In addition to Quinn Ellis, St. John’s was able to retain Ian Jackson and Lefteris Liotopolous from last year’s backcourt while Dylan Darling, the star of several games for the Red Storm including its Round of 32 win over Kansas, entered the transfer portal and committed to Grand Canyon.
St. John’s has been looking for veterans and depth to go along with its high profile transfer portal additions and Avery Brown perfectly fits what they want on their roster.
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