The St. John’s basketball team is bolstering its frontcourt with a high school recruit that the coaching staff believes has a lot of upside.
Theo Edema, a 4-star center in the Class of 2027, committed to the Red Storm and he will be reclassifying to the 2026 recruiting staff and joining the program this summer.
The 6-foot-111 standout started playing basketball at a young age but has shown the potential to developing into a quality player in his career, and that’s why he joined St. John’s and Rick Pitino.
He picked the Red Storm over Maryland, BYU, and Stanford.
In the Class of 2027, Theo Edema was ranked as the No. 33 overall player and is slotted at No. 106 in the Class of 2026. He will join a St. John’s frontcourt that is still trying to replace Zuby Ejiofor and has landed international 7-footer Lazar Stojkovic and retained rising junior Ruben Prey.
There’s a path for Edema to contribute on the court for the Johnnies next season if he is able to prove this summer in practice that he can provide an impact in the paint with his rebounding and defending.
Rick Pitino announced on Monday that the school has signed him to a two-year contract, noting that it was important for his development to be in the program for s sustained period of time.
The St. John’s head coach also mentioned that Edema reminds him of Nelly Junior Joseph, a player that he coached at Iona who went on to play for his son, Richard, at New Mexico after he took the job with the Red Storm.
Theo Edema played high school basketball for Cushing Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts, where he led his team to a pair of state championships and the National Prep Championship Semifinals.
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