Quinn Ellis has been better than advertised for the St. John’s basketball program through the first three games of the season. The competition hasn’t been the best for the No. 13 Johnnies, but it hasn’t mattered for its superstar court leader.
He went for six points, six rebounds, nine assists, and four steals in the Red Storm’s 90-59 rout of Colgate on Wednesday night in Queens.
“You’re never going to see a stat sheet where you just get blown away, btu what he did in that one drive into the dunk and what he did right before the half is as cerebral a basketball player as you can have,” Rick Pitino said following the win.
Ellis’ dunk came late in the first half as the Johnnies were beginning an 11-0 run to create separation from the Raiders. He went up the right side of the floor, caught a pass with one hand that was slightly behind him, took one dribble with his right hand, elevated off his right foot, switched the ball into his left-hand midflight, and dropped the dunk on Colgate’s Josh Ahayere.
It was the most athletic play he’s had in his short St. John’s career.
whoa. pic.twitter.com/JPaHYJoRtx
— St. John's Men’s Basketball (@StJohnsBBall) November 12, 2026
Then, two minutes later, with 3.9 seconds left on the clock he took an in-bounds pass and found Ian Jackson in stride, who went coast-to-coast for a buzzer beating layup. It was the sixth assist of the half for Ellis as St. John’s led by 17 points.
“He’s an amazing, amazing player with an incredible IQ,” Pitino added.
In the three games of his St. John’s career, he’s totaled 90 minutes and has 27 assists, 12 steals, and two turnovers.
Rick Pitino said he watched about ten hours of tape on Ellis during the spring and the Hall of Famer knew he would be great for his basketball team, but he believes he’s better with the Johnnies than he was in Milan because of how much St. John’s is asking him to do.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s the smartest basketball player in the nation,” Pitino continued. “And he’s older, he’s wiser, played against good competition – so there’s a reason for that.”
“It’s such a treat, for me, to coach him. Such a treat to have such an incredibly smart basketball player.”
Things will get more difficult for Quinn Ellis as the Johnnies step up in competition – which begins on Sunday against Syracuse.
“Being a point guard, I don’t think point guards like to turn the ball over,” Ellis said of his gaudy numbers. “So, I take care of the ball for the team and get us good looks.”
The volume of shooting numbers haven’t been there for Quinn Ellis yet – failing to hit a 3-pointer so far in five attempts and averaging only 5.6 shot attempts per game – but it’s something that the Red Storm believe will continue to get better as the season progresses and Rick Pitino continues to put him on the treadmill during practices for passing up shots, although it doesn’t faze Ellis.
“He loves it. He laughs at it,” Pitino joked. “He’s such a great player. I couldn’t have any more fun watching him play. It’s just so much fun to watch him.”
“For him, I’m having a blast [coaching him]. Some of the other guys are giving me a breakdown.”
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