The St. John’s basketball program has its second addition from the transfer portal this offseason and it’s a familiar name to most Big East fans – Providence forward Bryce Hopkins.
Hopkins was one of the biggest names to enter the portal thus far.
He announced his decision to join the Red Storm over Georgetown and his former coach Ed Cooley on Monday.
The addition of Hopkins does have question marks for the Johnnies due to his injury history after suffering a torn ACL on January 3, 2024, limiting him to just 14 games one season after he was named as an All-Big East First Team selection after his first year in the league.
He returned from his injury nearly a month into the season, debuting on December 3 but only was able to take the court for three games after a bone bruise in his knee sidelined him for the remainder of the year.
The 6-foot-7 wing averaged 17.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.0 assists during those games while shooting 40-percent from the field and 40-percent from 3-point range.
Bryce Hopkins has played just 17 games in the last two seasons after playing 61 during his freshman year at Kentucky and sophomore campaign with the Friars.
There had been chatter prior to Hopkins’ ACL tear that he was going to enter the transfer portal following the 2023-24 season and the Red Storm would be a major player for him, but he opted to remain with Providence and rehab his injury.
The connections between Hopkins and Cooley, the coach who brought him to Friartown, were undeniable but the Johnnies still prevailed in the end.
Concerns about his knee are minimal in Queens after Rick Pitino put him through a workout during his visit this weekend. He joins Arizona State transfer Joson Sanon in St. John’s transfer portal class this offseason.
The Red Storm are expected to remain aggressive in the portal as they look to fill out the remainder of the roster.
Bryce Hopkins also becomes the third player to transfer to St. John’s under Pitino with ties to a previous Big East school after UConn’s Nahiem Alleyne joined the Johnnies for the Hall of Famer’s inaugural season and Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond was its biggest portal acquisition last spring.
In his last full season on the court, Hopkins averaged 15.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per contest on 45.2-percent shooting. He could combine with St. John’s superstar Zuby Ejiofor to create one of the best frontcourt duos in the country.